We had the good fortune of connecting with Jared Olkin and we’ve shared our conversation below.
Hi Jared, how did you come up with the idea for your business?
It was fueled by personal need. I grew up eating super premium, full-fat dairy ice cream in my mom’s homemade scoop shop in North Carolina. Later in life, I started moving toward a plant-based diet. I tasted the options that were on the market and found them lacking. So I started making my own non-dairy ice creams and just got completely, utterly obsessed. Once I realized I had a recipe that was better than anything on the market, and that it was a sizable market, I began to see and pursue it as a real business.
What should our readers know about your business?
Revolution Gelato is plant-based gelato that tastes better than dairy. We use simple, clean ingredients so that you can indulge and feel good at the same time. I’m incredibly proud of the quality of our products. We’ve won multiple taste awards competing directly with dairy, even in our home state of Georgia which has deep agricultural roots. Most recently, we’ve just launched a brand new product — a mini gelato pie — which was selected as a NEXTY winner (like an Emmy for the natural products industry). They’re insanely delicious. Right now they’re available for direct ship from our website and will be available for delivery through GoPuff this or next week. More retail shelves and foodservice menus will be bringing them on in the coming months. I can’t wait to see them in broader distribution.
Any places to eat or things to do that you can share with our readers? If they have a friend visiting town, what are some spots they could take them to?
I like to go on self-guided taste tours that showcase my favorite specific dishes, like the smoked tofu bun from El Super Pan, but some of my overall fave spots include Mushi Ni, Nam Phuong, Madras Mantra, Ammazza, Lan Zhou, and Revolution Donuts. We’d also get out to Buford Highway Farmer’s Market & Dekalb Farmers Market, which I think are both really unique and fun experiences that I haven’t really seen in other cities. Monday Night Brewing, Eventide, and Three Taverns are my go-to local breweries for an afternoon/evening, especially when there’s live music. My band, Buttered Bourbon (currently on hiatus) used to play regularly at the latter two. I was also an active member in the Atlanta improv scene and have taken my friends to shows, but that’s also off the table for now. I also really enjoy taking folks for a drive or bike ride through the Atlanta neighborhoods. It’s a beautiful, green city with a lot of variety that is simply nice to take in.
Who else deserves some credit and recognition?
There are so many people who have helped over the years in ways big and small, and no doubt many more who will help in the future; it’s really a testament to the good in people and how reliant we are on each other. A non-exhaustive list of some of the folks who helped me very early on: my family and especially my sister Leah, Steve Garman, David Roth, David Voremberg, Sanyin Siang, Kevin Salwen, Cheryl Newman, Mitchell Williams, Ed Bloomer, Keith Schroeder.
Website: www.revolutiongelato.com
Instagram: www.instagram.com/revgelato
Linkedin: www.linkedin.com/company/revgelato
Facebook: www.facebook.com/revgelato
Image Credits
Stradford Stone Skye Estroff