Joe Nicchi: Founder & CEO of CVT Soft Serve
Episode 743
On this episode of The Kara Goldin Show, we’re joined by Joe Nicchi, Founder and CEO of CVT Soft Serve — the Los Angeles–based brand that turned a classic chocolate-vanilla twist into a cultural phenomenon. What started with a single soft serve truck in 2014 has grown into a beloved brand with multiple trucks, retail locations, and packaged pints that bring the CVT experience to even more fans. Along the way, Joe made national headlines when he pushed back on influencer freebie culture with his now-viral “influencers pay double” policy, reinforcing the authenticity that has defined CVT from the beginning.
In our conversation, Joe shares how he went from acting to entrepreneurship, what it’s really like to build a food business from a truck on the streets of LA, and the bold bets he’s made to grow CVT into an enduring brand. We talk about scaling beyond food trucks, the challenges of breaking into retail, and what it takes to carve out space in an ice cream market dominated by giants. Joe also opens up about the viral moment that changed everything, the toughest lessons he’s learned as a founder, and his vision for CVT’s future.
Whether you’re an ice cream lover, a fan of founder stories, or someone curious about building a brand from scratch, this episode is full of insights and inspiration you won’t want to miss. Now on The Kara Goldin Show.
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https://cvtsoftserve.com/
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Transcript
Kara Goldin 0:00
I am unwilling to give up, that I will start over from scratch as many times as it takes to get where I want to be. I want to be you. Just want to make sure you will get knocked down. But just make sure you don’t get knocked out, knocked out. So your only choice should be go focus on what you can control. Control, control. Hi everyone, and welcome to the Kara Goldin show. Join me each week for inspiring conversations with some of the world’s greatest leaders. We’ll talk with founders, entrepreneurs, CEOs and really, some of the most interesting people of our time. Can’t wait to get started. Let’s go. Let’s go. Hi everyone, and welcome back to the Kara Goldin show today. We’re talking about ice cream, but not just any ice cream. I’m joined by Joe Nicky, who is the founder and CEO of CVT Soft Serve. That’s V as in Victor. So CVT Soft Serve the Los Angeles based brand that took a classic treat and turned it into a cult sensation. Was started as a single food truck in 2014 serving the creamiest chocolate, vanilla twist soft serve you’ve ever tasted has grown into an iconic brand with trucks and and now packaged pints available to even more fans. So Joe became an unlikely entrepreneur, launching CVT after a career in acting in a stint in the restaurant world, and he’s built not only a beloved brand, but also made waves by saying no to some influencer freebie culture I read, cannot even wait to hear about Joe’s journey and the lessons he’s learned and story of grit creativity and staying true to your values, and super excited to finally meet the man behind the brand and very, very excited to have you here today. So welcome Joe. So excited to have
Joe Nicchi 2:07
you here. Thank you so much. I’m so excited to be here. I really appreciate it.
Kara Goldin 2:11
So CVT is in the pouches I currently had a few of the chocolate, vanilla, different pouches and so, so yummy. I mean, you have just absolutely nailed not only the packaging, but also, obviously what’s most important, what’s inside and the taste. So, so good. So let’s start with the simple when someone eats a CVT, I guess it’s a cone pouch. I don’t know how you refer to but actually has your product. What are they really tasting beyond that ice cream like, what is the promise inside
Joe Nicchi 2:54
it is absolutely, in my opinion, the most delicious soft serve ice cream you’re ever going to have made with seven all natural ingredients. We keep it super clean. I know that soft serve ice cream in general gets a bad rep in terms of chemicals and all that, so we have a very clean, delicious product. But yeah, this is a family run business we started almost 12 years ago now, a lot of blood, sweat and tears went into it, and, yeah, just really, really great product.
Kara Goldin 3:27
So what is the story behind CBT? You went from acting to launching a soft serve truck, and then now where you are today, but share the story.
Joe Nicchi 3:39
So I’ll give you a condensed version. And I know this, the show can’t last that long, but I went, moved to Los Angeles A lifetime ago and studied theater at USC. And throughout the years, I grew up in upstate New York, where there was soft serve ice cream was prevalent. There’s soft serve shacks everywhere. And I noticed there wasn’t any good soft serve in LA. So I started asking people, you know, where do you get the stuff? And they said, McDonald’s or some I’m like this, that’s disgusting, like, where’s the good stuff? So I joke that I opened out of frustration, but it’s true, as a kind of a side hustle between acting gigs, I said, I’m going to open a soft serve ice cream truck. And I did, and it absolutely took over my life. So we went from one soft serve truck to two, and we quickly became known as this TV film brand. So we became known for catering TV sets and movie sets in LA, lots of private events, weddings, this and that. And then we started wholesaling our soft serve ice cream, which is you pour into a machine like a jug of ice cream, to colleges and restaurants. And then about three or four years after that, we got a residential install, and it was Jeff Bezos, and when Jeff put our ice cream in his house, it was this moment for me of well, how can we get soft serve ice cream to everyone that can’t afford a ridiculously expensive machine in their kitchen? And I spent about two years of my life doing R D, trying to figure it out, and lot of patent attorneys involved and got. All it together. And we launched in May of 23 so just over two years now, with the pouch, the to go pouches, and it’s been a crazy ride. And we started in LA at gelsons. We love gel since 27 stores, I was over the moon that, you know, oh my god, we got this regional brand, and then it quickly just exploded from there.
Kara Goldin 5:17
So when you think about, you know, what you’ve done, it’s, I mean, you described it as as, I mean, it’s quality, it’s simple with limited ingredients. Why the heck didn’t someone do this before?
Joe Nicchi 5:29
You I don’t have a good answer for that. I can tell you that it’s cheaper, probably from a manufacturing standpoint, just to use chemicals, than to use the real stuff. So you want to use real dairy, and you know, real all the real stuff costs more money, and I’m sure there’s lots of shortcuts involved there, but yeah, I don’t, I don’t have an answer to that. I’m thankful that it hasn’t been done. So yeah,
Kara Goldin 5:51
so you made headlines with your viral influencers pay double sign. What pushed you to take the stand.
Joe Nicchi 6:00
So this was back when influencer culture was just taking off, and no people were coming to the truck, constantly saying, Hey, I will do a post on my Instagram in exchange for a free ice cream party, or forget, free cone. And I was like, This is crazy, you know, I’ve got kids, I’ve got bills to pay. I can’t do this. So as a joke, I made a sign that said, influencers pay double, and I put it in our window. Thought nothing of it. It went on Reddit, and it became the number one post on Reddit. It was an international story. I was in Time Magazine, the BBC, The Today Show in Australia, had us on. It was I struck a chord with business owners around the world that they were just sick of people asking for free stuff in exchange for exposure. And the irony that whole story is I got more exposure mocking the system than had I actually just given them away free product. So, yeah, it was just a crazy Lightning in a Bottle moment, crazy.
Kara Goldin 6:54
So from how did that moment of going viral really change the business then. I mean, you got a lot more press. You know, obviously your business changed as well. You went from trucks to actually creating a product that you’re now dealing with, grocery stores, d to c, all of these new things. But how did your overall company change?
Joe Nicchi 7:20
Oh, it was, it was insane. Overnight, the trucks were just inundated with either private event requests or we had lines down the street when we were serving on the street. And it really bumped up our wholesale business of pouring the jugs that you pour into machines so like it exploded. The virality was, I see the power of the internet, and I see the power of some influencers, but the ones that were hitting me up at the truck just didn’t seem worth it at the time. Again, this was early days of social media, when people were just sort of taking off with Instagram and food trucks in LA but no, it really, it really exploded. What was the
Kara Goldin 7:55
point when you said, we have to go and do this in pouches like, what was that? Do you remember that point where you just said, I gotta get serious about writing this business plan? I would imagine people wanted the product and were sort of asking and requesting it. But what was the point where you just said, I’ve got to put my head into this and make it happen? I wanted
Joe Nicchi 8:18
to see if it was possible first of all. And you know, I did a lot of r, d and beta testing with my family and friends. My wife and I have four kids. We actually took empty breast milk storage bags, and we’re filling them with soft serve ice cream, which is similar in form to the pouches that you now see on shelf. And just, you know, see if it could work, seeing if the the quality of the product would last on a shelf and stay frozen, and then as it thawed, does it? Does it stay creamy and delicious? And when that happened, I was like, okay, you know, this is real. We have something here. And I just started pitching to some, you know, some business owners that I knew, and said, Hey, was this something that you would consider selling? And it was just, you know, I had to go all in, because I saw the response of people didn’t realize that they could have soft serve in that form. And then once they did, they realized that I, you know, it was, it was a viable thing that I had to jump on.
Kara Goldin 9:09
How difficult was it to find a manufacturer? There’s, I know, we had all kinds of stories in the early days of hint where, you know, everybody who was willing to manufacture our product, they wanted to throw preservatives into it, because it’s easier for them, right? And but it’s not what I wanted. I wanted a product that had fruit and did not have any preservatives in it. Was there any similar stories in your case?
Joe Nicchi 9:40
I’m being kind and saying there was an absolute nightmare trying to find a manufacturer to do this thing. Because I thought I’d go to baby food manufacturers. You know, there’s baby food pouches have been around for years. So I went to them and said, You know, I’m gonna teach them how to make ice cream, and we’ll do this. Well, their facilities aren’t set up for frozen or for ice cream. They don’t know how to make ice cream. So said, You know what? I got to teach an ice. Cream person how to fill pouches. So that’s what I did. And then when I finally found that person, it was like, Okay, we’re doing this, but I had to sign an I had them sign an exclusive because I’m like, I’m going to teach you the secret sauce of how we do this. But you can’t make pouch ice cream for anyone else. So it took a long time to find the manufacturer and really happy with it. But it took a while.
Kara Goldin 10:20
Yeah, I counted. I probably had 200 nos before I actually found but as I always tell entrepreneurs, you just need one you need one manufacturer to sort of allow you to do a test, or whatever it is.
Joe Nicchi 10:38
We had manufacturers that said no. And now, once it started to explode, they’re like, Hey, did you still want to talk about that project? And I’m like, we would have a year and a half ago. But no, we’re good now. So yeah, it’s you need to find someone that had the same vision and was like, Okay, I see that this isn’t a great opportunity.
Kara Goldin 10:55
How difficult has it been to get to carve out space and stand apart in the world of ice cream when, even when you’re doing something better, it’s like you’ve got a you know, you’ve got the consumer facing marketing that you’re doing, but then you’ve also got to convince the grocery buyers, the gatekeepers, to allow you to get into different stores, and then you’ve got tons of competition, right? They might not be in the same format, but so how difficult has that? Has that been in terms of, I guess, just, you know, getting in there and and, and being able to make it? I had no idea when, when I launched our company, hint, the closest thing that I knew about was that there were Coke and Pepsi trucks that I had seen every once in a while at the stoplight. But I had no idea what went on behind the scenes.
Joe Nicchi 11:53
I was brand new to CPG. I knew absolutely nothing. Luckily, one of my customers had a friend who has a sales rep who has been working in CPG for a long time. And he came in early and said, you know, no promises, but I can sort of help you out and guide you in the process. So I started with him and our first pitch meeting. They took it in the room, and we walked out of the room and he said, Joe, that doesn’t happen. And, you know, they usually, they’ll take forever. They’ll ghost you. You know, this is, this is a crazy moment, and I’m like, okay, great. But what I learned in the process, or what I’ve learned from the category managers, is that you kind of nailed it when you said, like, the form factor is huge. They’re not seeing a ton of innovation in the space. It’s the same pint, or it’s a pint with more protein, or a pint with more less sugar. But in terms of novelty, ice cream. It’s, it’s very low. I’m not going to name specific products, but I’m trying to dance around it. Here. There are novelty products that are just filled with chemical and chemicals and garbage. So to like, give them a product that has is a clean label, and it’s an interesting form factor. And for parents, especially, giving your kid ice cream that’s no mess is been incredible. So the whole no mess aspect of the innovation was huge, like, oh, I can sell this to anyone that can have an ice cream in their car on their couch, and it’s not going to make a giant mess. So I don’t want to jinx it, but the selling has not been as challenging as people in the industry have seen.
Kara Goldin 13:18
Apparently, that’s awesome. So when you think about the toughest punch in the gut, moments that you’ve obviously recovered from, but what would you what comes to mind when, when I say that, that you know, big lesson you’ve learned that you would share with people just in launching your company and category,
Joe Nicchi 13:40
that’s that’s a really tough question. I don’t say gut punch specifically, but we, we’ve had a lot of people that as many yeses as we celebrate on social media or talk about, there’s been a lot of nos and just, I’m sorry I’m not answering your question. I’m trying to think about the biggest gut punch.
Kara Goldin 13:58
That’s fine, you know, I’ll get, I’ll give you one of the guests that I just interviewed reds with as a burrito. And he talked about how he always felt like his breakfast burrito is sort of his, you know what he it’s what he leads with and breakfast foods. And what he found was he always felt like he had to have burritos that were big, that were like giant burritos. But it ended up that the majority of his consumers actually wanted it so that they could have it in their hand while they’re driving, or, you know, something small, especially for breakfast, just to put something in their stomach. They didn’t want this giant thing that was going to fall all over the car or not be able to give it to kids, and so that was kind of the the roadblock. And he had sold a bunch of these in and when he figured out that he could actually make it half the size and maybe even up the price a little bit like all of these, the. Things he got stuck with, you know, a bunch of these bigger burritos, I guess, and, and, and so, you know, he said it was like lesson learned on that
Joe Nicchi 15:11
I’ve been very cautious, but also optimistic, especially with some of our bigger grocery partners, not to over produce. We haven’t had any out of stock issues, but I’ve definitely been told or heard horror stories from other CPG founders that they’re producing for next season to stay ahead of stock, to then learn that, oh no, they’re actually cutting you back. So I haven’t run into that yet, but especially with a product that’s perishable, more so than I don’t know, we’re having a shelf life that we’re fighting. It’s just being a constant dance of like, I got to make sure that we do this much. And I’ve heard that about club too, with Costco and BJs and all that. You know, they can have you in, and you could sell like crazy, and then next category review comes up and you’re out and you’ve have all this extra product. So I’m trying to be on tiptoe in those situations and make sure that we don’t make any mistakes, but I’m sure that gut punch is coming, but so far so good.
Kara Goldin 16:06
So when you think about your overall timeline and in building CVT, did you have any other like pinch me moments, or even feel like expanding on the Jeff Bezos story I understand, Didn’t he ask for a machine in his in his home and things like that, where you’ve decided we’ve really built something here? I mean, this is a brand, yeah,
Joe Nicchi 16:32
well, when Jeff put the our ice cream machine in his house, that was the big moment of, you know, how do we get our soft serve to everyone? That sort of sparked the whole pouch thing to begin with. But I’ve had so many as many, not knock on wood, not so many gut punches, but so many pinch me moments. Over the last two years, we quickly caught the attention of Live Nation. They came in and venture backed us, where the official ice cream of Live Nation amphitheaters. So seeing concerts and watching all these people eat our ice cream at concerts has been incredible. We’re at the Indy 500 last year at the Indianapolis Motor Speedway SoFi Stadium in Los Angeles, Hershey Park, Six Flags. Just seeing this product in so many places has been just so surreal. And we’ve grown really fast, and just trying to keep up with the momentum and make sure I’m surrounded with the right people. But yeah, so many pinch me moments for sure.
Kara Goldin 17:25
Yeah, how hard is frozen? You talked about shelf life, and especially dealing with a product that is, you know, real ingredients. I’m sure you know those, the shelf life issues are real, but how, how hard is it to deal with frozen overall?
Joe Nicchi 17:44
Yeah, I think the biggest challenge in Frozen is freight, and making sure that that, obviously, the price of frozen freight is not cheap, so making sure that it makes sense, making sure full truck loads out from our our manufacturing, also from the time it leaves our factory. It’s out of my control. So, you know, let’s just say someone’s not stocking it properly, and it’s sitting out for a half hour in the freezer aisle, and then they’re putting it in the freezer. It’s like, I’m such a control freak, my OCD gets the best of me, but truly, it’s, it’s it’s out of my hands. So yeah, there’s definitely challenges. Maybe a freezer broke, maybe a truck on the on the drive to the grocery store, that truck broke. I have no idea. As far as, like, making sure that that the supply chain is running smoothly, and that basically the entire supply chain relies on frozen machinery, and making sure everything stays frozen from beginning to end. There’s a lot of moving parts once it leaves the factory.
Kara Goldin 18:34
Yeah, definitely, yeah. I mean, I remember, I mean, even 10 years ago, like launching a product that was frozen. I mean, everyone said, No way, right? I mean, today it’s possible. It’s not easy, but it’s definitely, definitely possible. So running a food business can be totally exhausting being a founder. You’re the founder and CEO. You’re learning every day. You’re you’ve got an incredible brand. But how do you stay motivated, right? Like, what keeps you the most motivated? Do you do are you constantly talking to customers and staying in the market? Like, do you like? What is it that keeps you really motivated every single day?
Joe Nicchi 19:25
Brutal honesty. Is my family. Honestly. Like making sure, keeping the lights on. I’ve got four kids, but no, I love, I love meeting new customers. I love converting customers who didn’t even realize that soft serve comes in pouch. Like I just, I love meeting people and introducing this, this brand, and they have watching them have this aha moment once they try it, because I think novelty ice cream gets a bad rap of, oh, it’s just gonna taste like $1 drum sticker or Klondike Bar or whatever. But this is actually quality stuff. So I really am motivated by introducing the brand. New people and seeing how excited that they get when they try it, definitely. How did you come up with the name CVT stands for chocolate, vanilla and twist. I intentionally named the brand an acronym so that people would ask that exact question. I could have called it like Joe’s ice cream, but it forces conversation. If someone says CVT, they’ll say, Oh, what’s that? Oh, it’s this ice cream. You got to try it and blah, so I actually do get some pushback from category managers, like, oh, you know that name doesn’t make sense or it’s confusing. And I’m like, Yeah, but it’s working, so I’m good with it. But yeah, that was intentional.
Kara Goldin 20:33
I love it. So when, if you had to give anybody advice in launching their own business in the food industry today. What is, what is one of the biggest learnings that that you’ve that you’ve had that is okay, I’ve learned that we’re not going to go there again.
Joe Nicchi 20:54
I mean, crazy, hard work. I think that this whole world of social media is a highlight reel, and people are only seeing the wins. And I want people and entrepreneurs to know there are so many losses behind the scenes that people aren’t sharing. And also, I’ve told this. I just spoke at this place, this engagement with a bunch of MBAs, and I was like, I know you guys don’t want to hear this, but there is definitely an element of luck involved. Yes, there’s a lot of hard work, but I have met a lot of people that have helped me along the way and open doors. And I’m not ashamed of that. I’m proud of of those people and how they help the business. But I would say for learning, you know, meet as many people as possible. You’ve no idea who that person might know, who could actually open a door for you, or you could open a door for them. So I think networking is just so important, and getting out there as much as possible.
Kara Goldin 21:47
When you think about skew mix, so obviously you have the chocolate, the vanilla and the twist. Have you thought about going beyond those flavors? And it’s like it opens up a whole can of worms, right? I mean, maybe that’s not the right visual, but, but it’s it. You know, people like more than vanilla and chocolate, but they also love vanilla and chocolate.
Joe Nicchi 22:11
Yeah, absolutely no. We’re actually considering some additional skews next year. I’ve learned in CPG, obviously, the more skews you have, the more shelf space they can give you. So I see the opportunity for more Real Estate there. There’s something I love about being classic and simple. I go back to this story that I heard from Baskin Robbins, which was the founders said, Do you know why we have 31 flavors? It’s to give people 30 reasons to come in and buy vanilla, that vanilla is the most popular ice cream in the world. So yeah, I get that. People want something different, but I also like that we’re offering this throwback of you know, everyone’s trying to do, like putting avocado or olive oil or something unique and different into the ice cream. I’m like, sometimes you just want a chocolate cone, and that’s kind of what we’re here for, simple, definitely.
Kara Goldin 22:54
So I’d love to end on a fun question, so what’s your personal go to order at CVT, maybe at the truck or Or what do you pull out of the freezer? Since you have the option of grabbing whatever you want, what’s your favorite?
Joe Nicchi 23:11
I can’t answer that question. I know you want me to. If you ask me today, I would say it’s probably the twist, but it just depends on my mood in the time of day at the truck. Yeah, I eat all of it. There’s only three options. So it’s pretty simple, but we are, I won’t say what, but we are working on formulation right now for some other skews that I’m really excited about. So I’ve been eating a lot of that lately. It’s kind of hard to eat so much ice cream make sure that I don’t gain too many, too many pounds, but it’s, it’s, I like them all. There’s only three choices. I like them all.
Kara Goldin 23:48
That’s awesome. Actually, I’m going to sneak in one more question, because you mentioned it so as a as an entrepreneur, and also a parent. So what do you hope your kids learn from your experience on on being on building this company.
Joe Nicchi 24:06
I love that they’re seeing all the ups and downs of it. They’re not, I mean, they’re not even on they’re not on social media. But I love that they’re seeing all the behind the scenes. And when I have meetings and phone calls and I let them know what’s going on, I love that they’re learning about how much work it takes. There’s overnight success is not really a thing that, you know, it’s it takes a lot of determination, hard work, yes, a little bit of luck, for sure. But yeah, I like that they I want them to know it’s so cliche, you know, you put your mind to it, you can accomplish anything. But I really believe if you put a lot of energy into something you will get it will pay off
Kara Goldin 24:43
absolutely well. Thank you so much, Joe for coming on and sharing all about your journey and and your success. I mean, so amazing what you guys have built, and definitely from going from trucks on the street now. Way to having a brand that is now national, available in incredible format, pouches, CDT soft serve.com, but you can also follow them on social and like he, like Joe, mentioned in plenty of stores as well. And if you like this episode, love this episode, first of all, go on and buy CVT Soft Serve ice cream for sure, but also share this conversation with a friend. So Joe, thank you again for being so authentic and honest about the build and so excited for
Joe Nicchi 25:38
you. Thank you, Kara. I really appreciate
Kara Goldin 25:41
it. Thanks again for listening to the Kara Goldin show. If you would please give us a review and feel free to share this podcast with others who would benefit. And of course, feel free to subscribe so you don’t miss a single episode of our podcast. Just a reminder that I can be found on all platforms at Kara Goldin, I would love to hear from you, too. So feel free to DM me, and if you want to hear more about my journey, I hope you will have a listen or pick up a copy of my Wall Street Journal, best selling book, undaunted, where I share more about my journey, including founding and building. Hint, we are here every Monday, Wednesday and Friday. Thanks for listening, and goodbye for now.
