We caught up with the brilliant and insightful Alicia Liu a few weeks ago and have shared our conversation below.

Alicia, thanks for taking the time to share your stories with us today Let’s start big picture – what are some of biggest trends you are seeing in your industry?

Storytelling is the biggest trend for any brand to develop. There is so much product in market, so how should you spend your money and with whom? Putting products on the shelves and online is just not enough. We, as brands, need to evoke emotions and develop a relatable story for the our audience to create synergies and community. This helps drives conversion.

Awesome – so before we get into the rest of our questions, can you briefly introduce yourself to our readers.

I possess over 25 years of experience in launching brands and products in the luxury market working with prestigious brands such as Prada, Dolce & Gabbana and LVMH. After learning from these established brands, I started working with many smaller start-up companies and loved the fast pace entrepreneurial environment where decisions were made quickly and results came to fruition quickly, but my passion has always been in food as I come from a family of chefs and restauranteurs. With my background in branding and my passion for food, I decided to launch a food product, but what?
The pandemic was serendipitous. A complete Covid story. As many, I cooked my way through the pandemic. My daughter loves ice cream so we decided to buy a small home-maker machine. When I looked up recipes online, I realized there was SO much whole milk, heavy cream and sugar. Being raised on a Chinese diet, which has no dairy, these recipes were too heavy to my liking, so I decided to make a “healthier” version with organic oat milk and other plant-based ingredients. I made pints for friends, then friends of friends started to order them, then a café ordered for their menu and finally reached Erewhon shelves. Ive been the #1 best selling plant base ice cream at Erewhon. Lavender and Truffles was born.

What sets me apart is developing a Go-To-Market strategy that’s never been done before and elevating a common nostalgic food product and redefining into a decadence experience.

Can you tell us about a time you’ve had to pivot?

After being furloughed from my last fashion position due to covid, it was a time to redefine my career and reinvent myself, but also taking what I have learned from an industry that I have dedicated over 20 years to. Its a bit scary to start your own business but rewarding to set your own pace of the company and your day to day activities.

Okay – so how did you figure out the manufacturing part? Did you have prior experience?

I never knew how to make ice cream and found all the answers online. You could never have done that 20 years ago. That’s how it all started, but nothing beats on site experience. I asked many chefs, ice cream shop owners and other cpg brand founders for advice on ingredients, process, distributors, resources, etc. Everyone in the industry has gone through the same woes as the next, even the most successful brands. Everyone that I have met in the industry have been liberal about sharing industry information. Even competitive brands, who I now call friends in the industry-they are the best ones! This is completely opposite of the fashion industry so it was refreshing to be a part of this community.

Contact Info:

• Website: https://www.lavenderandtruffles.com/
• Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/lavenderandtruffles/
• Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/lavenderandtruffles/
• Linkedin: https://www.linkedin.com/in/alicia-liu-64b32516b/
• Yelp: https://www.yelp.com/biz/lavender-and-truffles-los-angeles

Image Credits

https://johnvonpamer.com/