Simon Goodman was on a business trip in Australia when he first saw the dairy-free ice cream that would change his life.

As a Brit sweltering in the Aussie summer, he was looking in the freezers at the local grocery store when Over the Moo caught his eye.

“Later that night, I enjoyed the best ice cream ever,” says Goodman. “I was amazed at how good it tasted, and then discovered it was plant-based and completely dairy-free.”

Six months later, fortune struck again as Goodman was watching Shark Tank, the Australian version of Dragons’ Den.

“One of the pitches made me sit bolt upright,” he says. “There he was: Alex Houseman, founder of Over the Moo, pitching the brand to the Sharks.”

Goodman reached out to Houseman through social media. He learned the brand had started in Australia in 2015, after Houseman, who is lactose intolerant, became frustrated at not being able to enjoy ice cream.

Today, Over the Moo is available in tubs in seven flavours and has sold well over two million units in Australia since launch.

Goodman told Houseman he wanted to bring the brand to the UK, explaining he had run his own business for nearly 25 years, manufacturing items for fashion retail and clothing manufacturers.

Before that he worked in marketing and communications, with five years on food and beverages with companies including Cadbury and Whyte & Mackay.

“Right away, Alex and I connected on a vision for the brand,” says Houseman. “We talk often, Alex sharing his experiences, good and bad, on how to set up a supply chain of plant-based ice cream.”

Goodman and Houseman wanted to bring something different to the brand for the UK. Following a lot of research and discussion with manufacturers, retailers and consumers, Goodman came up with the concept of a snack format.

“Everybody snacks, but my research showed that, especially out of home, there was a gap in the market for something that was convenient, healthy and above all tasty,” he explains.

 

The result was Over the Moo Bites, which are rolling out this month in Vanilla and Caramel. Each pack contains eight dark chocolate-coated, plant-based bites that each provide 30 calories.

Getting to this point has been a long journey, says Goodman. “We shared the original Over the Moo recipe with the factory in Italy, which had to adapt it as we needed a bitesize version coated in plant-based chocolate.”

Plans for a summer 2022 launch had to be delayed, but it enabled Goodman to rethink the packaging and switch from the original tub to a pouch, which he feels better reflects the snacking format.

Having got to this stage in the project working alone, Goodman is now taking on a sales and marketing team, and is working with Birmingham distributor On the Rocks.

The distributor is “helping get Over the Moo listed in places we could not have achieved alone, and this has given us a real injection of momentum”, he says. “It will also enable us to warehouse and distribute all over the UK.”

One of the high points of the journey was winning two awards at the inaugural Farm Shop & Deli Product Awards this year, with the Caramel bites taking a gold and Vanilla a bronze.

“I knew the product tasted great and that the format was something consumers would love, but having a group of experts confirm this meant so much,” says Goodman.

It is also important from a business point of view, because farm shops and delis will be a key part of distribution, he adds. “We have already signed up a number to stock pre-Christmas and many more will take stock starting from January.

“Farm shops and delis thrive on selling great-tasting food and are always on the lookout for something new and different. The awards endorsed this and have been a very important part of the conversations we are having.”

With its first retail listings and further funding confirmed, Goodman believes Over the Moo is set for rapid expansion.

“We have new products and flavours in the pipeline that will develop us into a major brand in the market, and will show just how much potential this bitesize frozen format has.”

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