The Ice Cream Upstart Taking Over the Freezer at Erewhon | Tyrel Johnson, Natty Ice Cream

 On this episode, we’re joined by Tyrel Johnson, the Co-Founder & CEO of Natty Ice Cream, the high-protein, clean-label ice cream brand rapidly breaking into the frozen set. Tyrel and his brother Garrett turned a home fitness journey, a Ninja Creami obsession, and relentless R&D into a brand that's gaining traction fast.Tyrel shares the inside story of building Natty from a Breville machine to a fully licensed dairy manufacturing facility, then making the pivotal decision to shift from in-house production to a co-packer to support scale. We dive deep into brand identity and how Natty’s bold, dark packaging and Greek-god iconography carve out visual white space behind foggy freezer doors. Tyrel shares tactics on breaking into frozen retail, working with brokers and distributors, managing trade spend, and building a brand that wins the first trial and earns repeat.---------------Episode Highlights:🍦 The fitness journey that inspired Natty Ice Cream🧪 How they cracked the code on high-protein ice cream texture🏭 Building a licensed dairy facility - then pivoting to a co-man🎨 Why contrast drives frozen aisle packaging strategy🔍 Visual storytelling and owning white space in frozen📈 Breaking into Erewhon and early retail traction🤝 Working with brokers, distributors, and deciding when to scale📊 Modeling trade spend, margins, and operational realities🚀 Emerging brands and trends Tyrel is tracking across CPG---------------Table of Contents:00:00 - Intro00:37 - Natty Ice Cream origin story03:12 - Building a brand with family05:33 - Early days of formulation and R&D09:46 - Product roadmap10:48 - Pivoting to a copacker13:34 - Brand identity and packaging design18:24 - Operating in the frozen category20:35 - Strategies to stand out in frozen at retail23:30 - Erewhon27:37 - Brokers and distributors31:22 - Brands and trends Tyrel is watching---------------Links:Natty Ice Cream – https://nattyicecream.com/Follow Tyrel on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/tyreljohnson/ Follow me on LinkedIn – https://www.linkedin.com/in/adam-martin-steinberg/For help with CPG production design - packaging and label design, product renders, POS assets, retail media assets, quick-turn sales and marketing assets and all the other work that bogs down creative teams - check out KitPrint.Shout out to my friends over at Glimpse, the go-to partner for automating retail-related back-office operations and unlocking margin trapped in invalid fees and manual processes.Are you in the market for a new flexible packaging partner? Check out HD Packaging. Third-generation, family-owned and built for the needs of category leaders like Newman’s Own and A Dozen Cousins. Faster launches, lower costs, and no artwork fees.