By Allison Albery
About Protein Pints and the founders of the ice cream!
Protein Pints is high protein, low-sugar ice cream. The pints have 30g of complete protein, are gluten free, lactose free, and use zero artificial sweeteners or flavors. The company was founded by Paul Reiss and Michael Meadows, best friends since childhood from Hudsonville Michigan.
Paul and Michael grew up eating ice cream almost every day, but later got involved in college athletics where they began eating foods that were better for their health. Namely protein bars and shakes, problem was these are often chalky, boring, and unenjoyable after repeated use. That’s why that created Protein Pints, so they could eat ice cream every single day and still hit their protein intake goals in the most enjoyable way possible.
Did you always see yourself becoming an entrepreneur?
Yes! We always had that entrepreneurial spark, coming up with all sorts of ideas throughout the years of our friendship. We never would have dreamed that we’d be working in the ice cream industry! But the expirence and journey has been amazing.
We made Protein Pints because it was something that we wanted. One day we went to a grocery store looking for protein ice cream, and were shocked and disappointed when we couldn’t find it. We didn’t let that stop us though, because the very next day we bought our own tabletop ice cream maker and started making protein ice cream at home for ourselves. After doing this for sometime, we recognized there was an opportunity to share it with other people! Thus, Protein Pints was born.
What makes your company unique?
Protein Pints is the highest protein ice cream on the market and is the first ice cream to also be branded as a protein product.
What made you want to start this business?
We started Protein Pints because of our love for ice cream, and our desire for better tasting protein products.
What milestones have you achieved recently in accomplishing your mission and vision?
We have recently launched into 10 new Meijer Supercenter stores on April 17th in Michigan!!We are honored to announce that Protein Pints has won 1ST PLACE and the GRAND PRIZE at the prestigious Rice Business Plan Competition, securing over $250K in funding!
The Rice Business Plan Competition is the largest and richest student startup competition in the world!
So, how did we get here?
Out of over 450 applicants, Protein Pints was announced in February 2024 as one of the top 42 teams and invited to Houston, Texas to compete and represent Michigan State University.
Over the course of the past week, and four rounds of pitching, this group was narrowed down to a final 7, representing the top collegiate teams in the nation.
In the finals Jordan Emmer and I pitched to a room of over 350 esteemed judges from top investment firms and were met with incredible enthusiasm and support.
What does this company have planned for the future?
We plan to make Protein Pints a national brand, and to create new flavors, and a new product line of protein ice cream popsicle bars.
What does this company mean to you?
Protein Pints for us is an expression of creativity and passion. We created it because we wanted it, and it is an incredible joy to grow the company day-by-day, step-by-step.
What hurdles did you have to overcome and how did you do it?
Learning to manufacture, and having a place to manufacture, was a recent hurdle that we overcame. We now make Protein Pints at the MSU Dairy Store in East Lansing in collaboration with the MSU Product Center, and can now make over 100k+ units per year.
What lesson did you learn along the way?
We’ve learned to celebrate the little wins. Every step on the journey is important, and worth celebrating. Day by day we get closer to our goal of making Protein Pints a nationally available brand.
What advice do you have for aspiring entrepreneurs?
If you don’t have an idea yet, start coming up with new, innovative ideas every day! Train your mind to look for opportunity, the world is full of it! Beyond that, believe that you can! Belive that making your own path is possible, and that is a great place to start.
NEU 