How Smearcase Is Building a New Kind of Ice Cream Brand with Joe Rotondo

Launching a food brand is never easy — but creating an entirely new category like frozen cottage cheese ice cream? That’s a different level of bold.

In this episode of Shopify Happy Hour, Dan sits down with Joe Rotundo, founder of Smearcase, the first and only frozen cottage cheese dessert brand built for people who want indulgence and clean, protein-packed ingredients. From a late-night craving for a healthier dessert to landing on shelves at major retailers, Joe shares how relentless action, rapid iteration, and authentic storytelling helped turn a simple idea into a fast-growing CPG brand.

You’ll hear how Joe:

•  Turned a DIY mix of cottage cheese, honey, and fruit into a brand-new product category. 
•  Went from idea to market testing in just a few months by prioritizing speed and feedback. 
•  Partnered with his sister early on to develop recipes and refine the product. 
•  Used real-world validation (not just friends and family) to shape flavors, branding, and positioning. 
•  Navigated early production, co-packing, and a 5,000-pint launch strategy. 
•  Leveraged trade shows like Fancy Food Show to land meetings with major retailers like Whole Foods and Sprouts. 
•  Built momentum through in-person demos, networking, and relationship-first outreach. 
•  Embraced a polarizing brand name — and why standing out mattered more than pleasing everyone. 

We also get into the bigger picture:

•  Why “healthy ice cream” is broken — and how Smearcase is redefining indulgence with real ingredients. 
•  The power of relentless execution vs. overthinking in early-stage startups. 
•  How founders can validate ideas quickly without overbuilding. 
•  Why human relationships still beat cold emails and LinkedIn pitches in CPG. 
•  Organic social strategy — and how to create content that actually feels authentic (even if you’re busy or camera-shy). 
•  The realities of launching in retail, scaling distribution, and building a brand from scratch. 

🍦 Whether you’re a founder, fitness-minded foodie, or someone curious about how new food categories are born, Joe’s story is a masterclass in speed, simplicity, and showing up consistently.

Brands & Mentions:

• Smearcase
• Whole Foods
• Sprouts Farmers Market
• Fancy Food Show
• Good Culture
• HY.Q
• REI
• Dick's Sporting Goods

Chapters:

00:00 Introduction to Smearcase
 02:00 The “healthy dessert” problem
 05:30 From idea to action (June 2023 origin story)
 08:45 Validating the product in the real world
 12:00 Branding, flavor iteration, and feedback loops
 16:20 Breaking into retail & first production run
 20:00 Building relationships with buyers
 23:00 Organic marketing & content strategy
 26:00 Founder mindset and execution philosophy
 29:00 Speed round & personal insights
 31:00 What’s next for Smearcase

Transcript

Dan Cassidy (00:01.698)
Welcome to the Shopify happy hour. On this show, you'll hear from Shopify founders, operators, and experts on growth marketing strategies, lessons learned from the trenches, and other nuggets of e-commerce wisdom shared over a different drink or snack each episode. Today's guest is Joe Rotundo, founder of Smircase, the first and only frozen cottage cheese that combines a few simple ingredients for one powerful protein packed pint, designed to be the best for you ice cream on the market.

Joe, welcome to the Shopify happy hour.

Joe Rotondo (00:33.314)
What's up Dan, thanks for having me. It's an honor to be here and I'm excited to dig in.

Dan Cassidy (00:37.174)
Nice, good stuff. So we're down in North Carolina and it's funny that town we're in, Wilmington, people talk about how we have about 12 seasons. It'll be like third winter and second spring. So we went from winter to summer for like two days and now it's sort of winter again, but still less cold than it was. I'm excited to have some, cold snack that is protein packed to share with you. So yeah, nice to see you and thanks for being on.

Joe Rotondo (00:58.692)
I love it.

Yeah, cheers. mean, man, that is March weather. It's like every single day you experience, I mean, 12 seasons in North Carolina checks out. Up here, it's like yesterday was cold and rainy. Today is warm and sunny. Tomorrow is gonna be who knows what. may even snow again, but that's March. a seasonal month.

Dan Cassidy (01:22.988)
Nice, and you're perfect. And you're in Brooklyn, correct? Nice, so you got another couple weeks hopefully and then you'll be in springtime.

Joe Rotondo (01:27.31)
I'm in Brooklyn, that's right.

Joe Rotondo (01:32.546)
Yeah, then we're smooth cruising. got sunshine. All good things.

Dan Cassidy (01:37.078)
Love it, awesome, awesome. So I'm talk through what I have, which is kind of the rough and tumble version of smear case. And then I'd love to hear more about smear case and just kind of talk through what's actually in it. So basically what I've got over here, cottage cheese, peanut butter, salt, honey. Super basic, I've been, know, cottage cheese is definitely having a moment and you're helping with that. But for years...

Joe Rotondo (01:49.347)
Yeah.

Joe Rotondo (01:55.172)
I love it.

Dan Cassidy (02:02.252)
I was talking about Greek yogurt. I was talking about all this yogurt stuff and you know, yogurt's great, but I've been a cottage cheese guy for a long time. It's like super high protein. If you're, if you can go full fat or low fat and tastes really good. So I love the whole trend of like cottage cheese as a bait, as a base for healthier desserts. But speaking of that, you're making it much easier for people to consume healthy desserts with smear case. So maybe just talk about what your

what you're about to have and what's in it and yeah, go through that.

Joe Rotondo (02:35.788)
Yeah, mean, Dan, what's funny is that's how I that's that's what that was the impetus for starting smear case was at night, I wanted a healthy dessert. Ice cream was ruled out because there's no such thing as healthy ice cream, right? If it's and if it is healthy, it has terrible ingredients. So my go to have the dessert was a bowl of cottage cheese, honey and blueberries.

And it was like, gave me that sweetness. It gave me that protein I was looking for. It gave me that those, those good carbs that I was looking for. And that's when the light bulb moment went off of like, wow, like why can't, you know, why can't cottage cheese be way more fun to eat because you know, sometimes the texture is not what you want to, not what you want to be feeling. And that, yeah, so I was on my couch and

I was like, how is there no such thing as high protein ice cream? How is there no such thing as frozen cottage cheese? And then that's when the light bulb went off for Froko. This is our mocha Joe. This is infused with coffee, espresso, dark chocolate chunks. It's, you know, when we first developed the formula, I just asked myself, what needs to be in this?

What does not need to be in this? Every single ingredient needs to serve a specific purpose and add value to the product. And that addition and subtraction sort of, you know, during the formulation process occurred and we ended up with something that was, you know, relatively stripped back. Yeah, just cottage cheese, milk, collagen, sugar, and then some flavoring.

No gums, we're using just pectin, which is just from a fruit rind. No real protein powders, so there's no chalkiness or... The goal was to make something indulgent, yet add nutritional value, and I'm proud to say that we've accomplished that.

Dan Cassidy (04:33.302)
Love it, love it. Well, I want to dive in more, but first, cheers. Thanks for being with us. Cheers to Smear Case and let's dig in.

Joe Rotondo (04:37.082)
Cheers.

Joe Rotondo (04:45.168)
Little afternoon coffee. I've once ate the entire pint and it had me buzzing a little too hard.

Dan Cassidy (04:53.742)
That's awesome. Yeah, you never know with coffee if But it's perfect for you know, a little little cow cheese healthy protein and caffeine got the day going

Joe Rotondo (05:02.809)
Yeah.

Dan Cassidy (05:04.174)
I'm having a little moment because I probably put too much peanut butter into this. So I don't if remember the old commercials for I think was Smuckers or something where they had this. There's this guy in a trivia show and he was trying to answer a trivia question. The answer was Aaron Burr and he couldn't say because he ate a whole bunch of peanut butter before. So that's kind of how I feel right now. It's difficult to talk but uh yeah, smear case would probably be a little smoother than what I'm what I'm having right now. So okay, so you so let's go back to what year was it where you had the idea for smear case?

Joe Rotondo (05:20.558)
Yeah.

Joe Rotondo (05:26.414)
That's funny. Is it?

Dan Cassidy (05:34.128)
you

Joe Rotondo (05:34.584)
It was June of 2023.

Dan Cassidy (05:37.711)
Awesome. Okay, so flashback, let's go back to June, 2023. You are thinking about creating this or you have this idea for a healthier type of ice cream. What were your next steps from that? Because lots of people have ideas all the time about products, whether it's in food or anything else and not much happens. What happened after you had this idea and how did you end up in the place where you're at now where you've got this product that you're selling in supermarkets and distributing lots of places?

Let's talk about that.

Joe Rotondo (06:10.104)
Yeah, well, I think taking relentless action was the first step, right? I think I'm a type of person who hates ideas just living in the ether in the head. Like I want to take action on something. I want to bring it into reality. So as soon as like that light bulb went off, you know, the first person I called was my sister. She's an incredible baker, very, very smart.

good with numbers and I was just like, hey, is this possible? And she's like, of course it's possible. I just ordered an ice cream maker off Amazon. Let's workshop it tomorrow. So that next day we were come up with formulas in my tiny New York City apartment kitchen and just like really just hashing it out, pen to paper, you know, in the lab. We grew up around food. So I love working with my hands.

So just was a very natural sort of process for us. So that was really the first step was like, let's put this idea into action. I quickly learned that people were already doing this. They were already taking cottage cheese because of good culture. I've been eating cottage cheese for a long time, but it's now in the zeitgeist because of good culture. But people don't wanna eat good culture out of the tub. They're taking cottage cheese and using it as an ingredient. So I just...

did some social listening and caught on to that. So I knew people were already doing this at home. I thought I could do it better. And yeah, that was the first step was just putting pen to paper, making it happen. And then from there, like energy in motion stays in motion. So like, what is the next step? It's different for everybody, but I think you need to just attack what that next step is and don't really look too far beyond that.

because that next part will reveal itself once you accomplish what's in front of you. So that was really the approach. And I think with that approach, you really take a lot of pressure off yourself of like, my gosh, starting an ice cream brand. Like I had no idea what that was gonna take. I still don't know sometimes.

Joe Rotondo (08:25.754)
But I think breaking it down to those smaller chunks, those like, in order to write a book, you gotta write one word, one sentence, a paragraph, a chapter. And I think breaking it down makes it much more feasible in that process.

Dan Cassidy (08:43.086)
you

So have you always been like that? Because I think lots of people, we talk about they have ideas for a new project or a new business or whatever that is and it can be overwhelming, right? Let's face it, when you're starting something out, you can't help but think through all the things that you might have to do at some point, six months from now, a year from now, three years from now, and a lot of people get overwhelmed, which is very understanding. It's kind of a part of the process. Have you always, I guess, been able to block

that out and just focus on the next step in front of you and if so any tips on how people can do that.

Joe Rotondo (09:20.418)
man, the answer is no, but the answer is also yes. I think in my 20s, I was somebody who wanted to do everything. I wanted to do it all. I wanted to chase every single curiosity, every single idea. I think that's a little bit of ADHD, but I think it was also me being young and me being curious, me being ambitious.

You know, I started a clothing brand when I was in college because I wanted to take what I learned in the classroom and apply it to the real world, AKA entrepreneurship. That's how I wanted to learn. That's how I wanted to create. So pursued that. Before Smircase, I launched about five Shopify drop shipping brands and just like learned and...

Yeah, so I think, you know, a couple years ago, I suffered from exploring a little too much and having too many irons in the fire. But I think during this process, I really stripped everything back to put all my eggs into this one thing and just put all my attention, all my energy, all my focus into this. And I think that sort of allows it.

to pay off. And now I just have this one thing where I can just put all my energy in and use my creativity on multiple aspects of the same business versus using my creativity on so many businesses and spreading myself too thin. So yeah, I think I've always been just like, do, do, do, take action.

and then figure it out along the way.

Dan Cassidy (11:14.542)
Love it, love it. All right, so let's go back to June, 2023. You have this idea, you connect with your sister, you're working with the ice cream maker, you start creating some recipes. Talk to me about how you moved from creating your initial recipes to then validating that in the market to know that there was something here.

Joe Rotondo (11:35.44)
Yeah, that's the most important step, right? You can have a great idea, you can have a great product. To you, right, to your friends and family, they'll always be excited, but the goal, the next goal was like, all right, how can you validate this as fast as possible? How can you move as fast as possible? So I took that and I brought it to other, I was training for a marathon while I created this, so I took it to other athletes, I took it to other entrepreneurs, I took it to other friends, took it to Drew, my co-founder.

And that's when I got validation on the product, on the branding, got feedback on flavors, tastes, overall brand positioning. And that's when the confidence started to build. Okay, definitely have something here is not perfect. But I got external validation outside of my immediate circle.

I want real raw honest feedback. I want to hear what's wrong. I don't want to hear everything that's right. I want to hear how it could be better. So yeah, was like integral. like June came up with the idea, July came up with the initial formula, August, we were like more or less in market testing it out, putting spoons in people's mouths. And that's when, in September,

In September, October, we really took a step back of like, all right, we have this. Now it's like, okay, what does that next phase truly look like? And that's when Drew and I teamed up and said, all right, like if we want this to be, you know, a shot at, if we want to give ourselves a shot at success, we got to move fast and we got to do it cheap and we got to be in market by next summer. But yeah, those early days of iteration and feedback were crucial.

to putting our growth into hybrid drive and trying to not cut corners, but definitely leapfrog our way to do it really quick.

Dan Cassidy (13:39.298)
What was some of the feedback early on that led to iterations and how you were either building the product or going to market?

Joe Rotondo (13:47.086)
Yeah, great question. We had like two to three iterations on the brand, so took that feedback. There were some initial flavors that we made that don't exist today. Maybe they'll exist at some point. So like the first three flavors that we launched as samples, they didn't make the cut, so now we have three.

three, now four entirely new flavors. And then it was just like little details like sweetness level, overall taste and texture. And then just like a lot of brainstorming of ideas like, this should be your go to market. I would focus on these retailers first. I would really double down on this specific target customer. So yeah, feedback came from all angles, all different shapes and sizes.

I think the biggest feedback that we got that we didn't really listen to was around the name smear case. It was incredibly polarizing. Some people absolutely hated it. Some people still absolutely hate it. But then there are a lot of people who, one, don't really care, but two, also love it. So I think, yeah, I think a big takeaway when you're getting feedback is at the end of the day, you're the one who needs to make the decisions. If you're building something for everybody, you're building something for nobody.

And at the end of the day, are the one, it's your job to say yes to feedback and to say no to feedback and to really decipher, read through the lines of like listening, but also be discerning and making the decision that you believe in. Because at the end of the day, you're to be the one driving the company. You got to believe in it. You know, and you got to do what you want to do at the end of the day not be stubborn about it.

but there is a point where you gotta turn off the feedback hose, cause otherwise it'll just overflow and drown you out.

Dan Cassidy (15:53.216)
Awesome. Yeah, at end of the day, buck stops with you, right? So you got to make a decision, just move forward, kind of like what you're talking about at the beginning, where taking massive action and moving quickly. Same thing with bigger decisions related to the brand or how you're going to market. So, okay, so you go through this testing phase where you get feedback, you iterate, you update some of the flavors, you start learning about who is your ideal buyer. Then from there, how do you move to...

Joe Rotondo (16:01.956)
Yeah.

Dan Cassidy (16:20.614)
distributing and getting product in store in freezers and getting it out to people in a much bigger way than just doing product testing.

Joe Rotondo (16:31.662)
Yeah, that was like the biggest, we were newcomers to CPG. So that was the biggest question mark. And honestly, same philosophy that we had in the beginning is like, all right, let's just attack this relentlessly, tenaciously, and we just hit the ground running. We took those, we made some samples, we found a co-packer, we brought on a consultant to help us find co-packing and distribution.

but like we had a ton of work to do on our end. So we literally took samples that we made and we were bringing them to retailers in New York, getting them to try it, getting some commitments. And then we strategically planned our production run. So we had about 5,000 pints that we finished. And then, you know, a week later we did the Fancy Food Show in New York in June, late June of 2024. So we had all this product.

And we were at a show where buyers would sample it, the actual product, and they would place orders on the spot. we, know, timing had a lot to do with it and it was a lot of strategic planning. But I think the way we lined it up positioned ourselves to be at the right place at the right time in front of the right people and getting yourself out there was crucial.

from the get go.

Dan Cassidy (18:03.69)
Awesome. So has most of your distribution through retail been from those early, getting in front of those buyers from that specific retail show? Or has there been other outreach to get in front of new retailers? if so, what does that look like?

Joe Rotondo (18:21.008)
Yeah, a lot of the relationships were built there. We launched a couple local retailers in New York City. But at that show, we were put in front of Whole Foods, we were put in front of Sprouts, and a month later, we got reached out to from the corporate buyers at both those retailers. So like those are our dream retailers. We had them on the hook, and then we ended up launching with them in the following category review. But man, the outreach doesn't stop.

You know what I mean? Like we want to be a nationwide brand. We want to be in a ton more retail stores and it's our job to sequence that appropriately and effectively and sustainably. But a lot of relationships began there. You know, I met people at that show that I'm still close with today, whether they're friends, fellow founders, media, retail investors.

So the groundwork was laid at that very first fancy food show. But this is a business of relationships and we're always building those relationships at shows, through networking, through events in New York City, through LinkedIn, other shows. So that, never stops. But I think the more you show up and the more you put into those relationships, like the deeper they go and the more...

both parties want to work together, which is the ultimate goal in business is that value add. Because at the end of the day, we're all humans. We all want to make a living and we all have to work together in order to achieve our own personal goals, but to help others achieve theirs. Like that is what business is all about.

Dan Cassidy (20:06.338)
All right, so if I'm launching a new brand, I'm trying to get retail distribution. What are some tips you would have to after connecting with, let's say, buyers of different retailers or investors or anybody who could be a partner in the business? What are some ways that you, after that first touch point, strengthen the relationship?

Joe Rotondo (20:23.728)
Yeah, well, first of all, it's a great question. First of all, you want to go with like, this is one of our first containers. It has like a little sticker on here just to like mock it up. But like this is, you want to go with the most retail ready packaging possible. You don't want to show up with a sample in a Ziploc bag or an unmarked container. You want the buyer, you want it to feel real. You want to portray your vision. You want to show the buyer, hey, this is what it looks like.

This is what it tastes like. This is what it feels like. You wanna spell it out for them. You don't want them to guess. Like, yeah, this is a cool mock-up, but like at the end of the day, this is an aluminum foil. this isn't, you're not running a business out of your kitchen. You gotta turn the hobby into a business. That's key. But I think, you know, in terms of relationships, like man, nothing is worse than a cold call. I hate them. A cold LinkedIn DM, a cold email. That's not how you do it.

Just not. Like if you're coming to me with the immediate intention to like, I'm going to sell you something, I'm out. Like, that's not how I want to do business. That's not how I want to be treated as a person of just like what value can somebody extract from me? You know, I really, I really, think, you my personal approach is like, want to, I want to know this person as a human being and I want to know who, what they're like. I want to know what they're passionate about. I want to know what they're looking for.

And I think if you lead every conversation, know, human relationship first, business second, that's gonna get you far down the road. And that's a, you know, that's a personal approach. I work with others who align with that because I'm strong in my values and I wanna be doing business with people who are strong in theirs. So yeah, it's really just building on it.

deepening it, strengthening it, and then over time, you stay top of mind, that person knows you're a good person, they're gonna wanna do business with you naturally. And I think that's something that is underrated these days.

Dan Cassidy (22:37.55)
It makes work so much more fun as well when you're working with people you care about and you know and you're helping each other out. Everybody's waiting from it. Fantastic. What have been some of the most effective marketing strategies you've leveraged either for going direct to consumer to build awareness for the brand or going to retailers to attract larger volume deals and purchase orders?

Joe Rotondo (22:39.779)
Yes.

Joe Rotondo (22:45.168)
100%.

Joe Rotondo (23:05.802)
Yeah, organic social media, you know, it's just sort of table stakes these days. But again, I think just putting yourself out there. How can you position yourself to be in the right room with the right people? Where do you need to be? Where are those people hanging out? You know, in-person interactions will never go away. It's the most important thing, you know, so...

I go to lot of networking events in New York City. Doing store demos, huge. You never know who you're gonna meet. I've met investors at a store demo. I've met somebody, I know somebody else that you gotta talk to. Like, my cousin would love this product, right? So I think word of mouth and referral marketing will never go away. Again, relationships are paramount.

But yeah, like social media also goes a long way. I document a lot of the process on LinkedIn. Decision makers see that content, but they're also customers. They're still eating at the end of the day. social media is a lottery. You put out content, you never know which one's gonna strike virality, but you're always posting to build the brand and to build awareness. You don't know who's sending it to somebody else and you don't know which one will resonate the most with your customer.

So yeah, those are just two sort of lanes that I continue to double down on. And I think, you know, we'll always be a part of building a brand.

Dan Cassidy (24:40.361)
So with.

I've heard from lots of founders and it's always a struggle, but a lot of founders, it's understandable, but they'll say they don't have time to create content. Right? They're working on building a business. They don't have time to be on Instagram shooting video content or they're not comfortable in front of their phone and they're hesitant to post content. How are you getting around that? How are you creating content? You're a busy guy, you're launching a brand, you're getting into retailers, running the business. How do you set time aside so that you can

and create that organic social content. And along with that, have you found any type of content work better than others?

Joe Rotondo (25:23.674)
I love that Dan. That is the last thing you said, what type of content, right? I think from early on I was like, my God, I got overwhelmed of like, I need to be on camera, on Instagram, creating content, campaigning on behalf of the business, so on and so forth. That made me anxious, it didn't feel right for me. So I think there are so many different channels. If you ask Gary Vee, you gotta be on all the channels and I do agree with that. But at the same time, as a founder, you are limited.

your capacity is limited. Not every channel is gonna feel authentic to you. So I think my biggest piece of advice is create the type of content that you're comfortable creating, because that is what will come across most authentic, and that is what will feel, you'll feel the most aligned with, right? So for me, it's LinkedIn. Like I love LinkedIn, I love writing on LinkedIn, posting an image, just really telling the story.

That feels right for me. Do I want to expand into other channels? Of course I do. It does come down to capacity. It does come down to my comfort level. But I know that in order to grow the business, that's the job that's required as a founder is you gotta be in media. That post-game interview after losing the Super Bowl or winning the Super Bowl, it's part of the job. So you gotta put yourself out there. You gotta give yourself a shot.

to get noticed. But I think in the early days, try a little bit of everything. Get your reps in. Always hit send. I don't proofread my LinkedIn posts. I write them on the spot and I hit send. And I don't care, to tell you the truth, if there's a grammar error, because it's from me and it's spur of the moment. It feels good and I'm not overthinking it.

Shoot your shot on multiple platforms, see which one feels right for you, see which one has the best ROI in terms of time and commitment, and then go from there. And then, you know, once you have a good rhythm on something, then you can then branch out into these other channels to see how else you can sort of grow outside your comfort zone. But at end of the day, you have to enjoy the content you're creating, you have to align with it, you have to believe in it, because I think people will...

Joe Rotondo (27:44.356)
woke up through the noise of like, it doesn't really sound authentic. And this sounds like AI wrote it or something like that, which is half the battle.

Dan Cassidy (27:54.989)
Nice, well, the good news about having some grammatical errors every now and again is it's proof that it's not AI, right? So it's a good way, a human actually wrote this, because the comma wasn't in the right place. Like, who cares? Like, this is how we talk, Nice, good stuff. I love all the insights that you're sharing. So let's move on to the speed round. So each answer kind of comes, you know, right off the top of your head. What is one book that you highly recommend?

Joe Rotondo (28:01.305)
Yes.

Joe Rotondo (28:07.948)
Exactly, exactly.

Joe Rotondo (28:23.61)
Wow, one book, I love the Four Agreements is something that I always recommend. I think it's just like a good reset of, and a reminder of like, hey, like what you were taught, you don't have to believe, you don't have to abide by the rules, you get to create that for yourself. That's something that I always, just from like a spiritual perspective, I think a lot of value in that.

Dan Cassidy (28:48.75)
What's an under the radar product or brand that you love?

Joe Rotondo (28:54.856)
man, HiQ. I'm a big fan of HiQ. HY.Q, it's by my friend Rick. It's a hydration canned beverage and it's just, man, it just tastes so good. The experience is, there's nothing like drinking out of a cold can. It's the best way to, it's the best form factor for beverage.

and his formulation hits the spot. love the branding. I love Rick and I'm super bullish on what he's building.

Dan Cassidy (29:28.182)
Love it, I've not heard of them. I'll have to check that out. What is one thing you do better than most people and how do you do it?

Joe Rotondo (29:33.952)
work. I'll love to work hard. I've I will go toe to toe with anybody. And they'll never outwork me. I think that's my superpower. There's pros and cons to it. But I love to work. I'll work my tail off. And that's just that's just how I go about my business.

Dan Cassidy (29:56.143)
What's a favorite shopping experience of yours, either online or offline?

Joe Rotondo (30:03.862)
Wow. You know, I, growing up, I loved Dick's sporting goods. Like our Dicks had a running track that you could try on shoes. had a putting green. It was just immersive. It had the best baseball equipment. And now as an adult, I love going to REI. Like REI is just, I love gear. Who doesn't love gear? And it's just, it's, I just feel immersed in their world. That's.

remains one of my favorite stores to go in because otherwise I really do not like shopping it overwhelms me But for some reason REI is just I feel at home Yeah

Dan Cassidy (30:42.648)
They're doing something right there. Who would you recommend for a future episode?

Joe Rotondo (30:48.112)
Ooh, Rick is a, I would recommend Rick from HiQ. The Sour Milk Girls, I don't know if you've spoken to the Sour Milk Girls, but they're just absolute, just beasts on social media and they're building something really cool and special. Yeah, those two founders I would recommend.

Dan Cassidy (31:09.6)
Awesome. What's next for you in Smircase?

Joe Rotondo (31:12.224)
Next, we just launched Nationwide and Sprouts. We're launching Fresh Time in April. We'll be expanding Northeast Presence and Whole Foods in April as well. I think what's next is we want to just continue to double down on building the brand, getting into more doors nationwide, coming out with more flavors, and just being a household name for...

not only protein ice cream, but cottage cheese ice cream. Like we are the first and only, we're setting the standard of what this category is and what it can be and the potential that it has. And I'm really bullish on cottage cheese as an ingredient. I'm bullish on single ingredient whole foods, minimal processed. That's where health is. It's in the ingredients, it's not in the macros. And that's where we're competing. That's the value we're delivering is clean label.

No BS, no artificial sweeteners, no protein powders. It is just, yeah, that's where I'm really passionate about. And I just, yeah, I'm excited to bring more value to our case heads. I'm excited to bring more value to people who want to indulge, but get a little bit something out of it. And yeah, I'm just, I feel very blessed and honored to be where we are, and I'm excited to see what the future has.

Dan Cassidy (32:36.952)
Joe, where can people connect with you to learn more?

Joe Rotondo (32:39.472)
Yeah, damn, people could follow me on LinkedIn, connect with me, shoot me a DM. They could follow us at Eat Smearcase on Instagram and TikTok. And we just launched a YouTube channel. But me personally, I would love to hear from you guys on LinkedIn. I try to answer every DM, unless it's a cold call. But yeah, that's where you can find myself and Smearcase.

Dan Cassidy (33:07.042)
Joe, thanks so much for creating Smear Case on your quest to make the best for you ice cream on the market. And thanks for sharing your story and insights with us today on the Shopify happy hour.

Joe Rotondo (33:15.94)
Dan, thanks for having me. It's been an honor, and I'll talk to you guys soon.