History, joy, and nostalgia in ice cream with Lokelani Alabanza
I had an inspiring chat with Lokelani Alabanza (Loke) founder of plant-based ice cream company, Saturated. We talk about the intersectionality of ice cream, hard sacrifices, and achieving your dreams.
Anna: What do you do?
Loke: I am an ice cream maker/storyteller. And now I say writer, though it's been a hard one to absorb.
When does your book come out?
Most likely the spring or summer of next year. Cookbooks take a lot longer than people anticipate. On average two to three years. It's been a few years and I am ready.
How did you get started making ice cream?
I always like to say ice cream found me, like the Shel Silverstein story, The Missing Piece Meets the Big O. I'm a classically trained pastry chef, and we always made ice cream wherever I worked, but not on a commercial scale. You always had it as a component of a dish. So you'd have this beautiful dessert, and then you'd have ice cream on it. There was an entire generation of pastry chefs that put ice cream on their desserts. The second job I got after I moved here nine years ago was at the Hutton where I made ice cream for my desserts. One of the last events that I did there was for this James Beard traveling dinner. I like to challenge myself, so I decided I'm going to make 250 popsicles. Then the machine we had broke, so I had to use a basic Cuisinart where you have to freeze the bowl. That was the beginning. Then I left the Hutton and got a job as a pastry chef. About two weeks in, they say, “We're opening an ice cream business and we need you.” I had two weeks to get it together. I went from making five quarts of ice cream base to about 20 gallons. I was not good at math and I had to scale up recipes. If someone had told me nine years ago, you would be doing this, I would have laughed, “there's no way!”
How did you get into developing flavors?
When I became culinary director of the creamery where I worked, part of my job was developing flavors. You have your basic flavors: vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate chip, a coffee flavor, there's always a fruit flavor, an Oreo flavor, strawberry, whatever. But the challenge became making new ones. I love flavor profiles. And I don't have a sweet tooth naturally. But I got good at it. I was like, “Oh, you can play this game.” And so within a four year period, I had done over 300 flavors. It was like a challenge every month. That's how I came up with the hot chicken flavor ice cream. Then it was like a game. Today, I'm over 350 flavors, my personal goal is 600 but that’s just for me.
When did you start your own company?
I started it in the summer of 2020. I got laid off two days before the March shutdown. It was the best thing to happen. It was time for me to leave. And so the universe was like, “we're gonna make you leave.” Which I think happened to a lot of people. So many people pivoted into something that they wanted to be doing and not just staying at that job that didn't make them happy. My dad encouraged me to start my business after I had been talking about it for a while. And then two weeks later, an ice cream machine was on my porch. And I was like, “I guess I have to start this business.” That's when I started designing the logo, getting an LLC, doing all the things.
What does Saturated Ice Cream stand for to you?
We're not here to cure anything. We're just here to bring joy in the form of ice cream. That's what it is for me. It has nothing to do with anything else, but what I've learned about ice cream is it's an extraordinary vessel, and it's a vessel for history, for joy, for nostalgia. And it's intersectional. It brings people together. It doesn’t matter who you are, your socio-economical background, your race, your religion. None of that matters because everyone loves ice cream. So that’s what it is, I’m just here to bring joy, and if I can teach you some things, then I’ve done a better job at it. I just want you to feel joyful, especially in this time of trauma. We’re in a big election year, there’s a lot going on in the world. At the end of the day, how can we remember joy is still a thing no matter how dark and weird it is outside of your house?
You don't have an ice cream shop, what are the ways that you bring in income with this product?
It’s interesting. It was really hard. Writing a cookbook has always been a dream of mine as a young chef. Dreams are very hard. I see why people give up, because it's so difficult. And I was not prepared to write a book, which is its own solopreneurship, and then have a business at the same time. 2022 was a really difficult year for me, learning how to survive. Every entrepreneur has been like, “I couldn't eat.” I had to make choices, because you realize you can't pay yourself in the beginning. I had to make really hard decisions. I knew I was never going to have a retail shop. It was not something I wanted. But what I did want was a different type of thing. I still have retail, but I don't want to physically make the ice cream. Today I've probably done over 10,000 units by hand myself. I hit a wall and decided I don't want to do this. I would rather make it for my friends and family, but I want to pay somebody to co-pack this for me. So that's where I had to start looking at the future and what the brand meant. In the interim, I have a book that I'm finishing and I’m still doing pop ups. But it takes money, because right now I'm redoing my entire deck and business plan, so that I'm able to go into a different route for the brand that takes the maker part away from me and puts it onto somebody else. So I’m raising money to make that happen, to get this co-packing first run done, and then I'll have products to start selling.
The dream is to go on book tour, and then have people ask, “how do I get your product?” And be able to tell them, “it's here today” or, “buy it at this store.”
I'm curious how you see yourself, because you wear many many hats in this business. Do you see yourself as an artist?
I love art. I've always been inspired by paintings. That medium has really influenced me and shaped how I do this ice cream thing, how I want it to look. And so I started these ice cream socials. The first one was in August, and it took a year to bring it into fruition. The place setting was inspired by a still life that Frida Kahlo did. I’ve been a huge fan of hers since middle school. When the Frida Kahlo exhibit came to town around 2018, I was looking at this wall and I looked at everything and I just saw ice cream. I asked my friend Brooke, “Do you think we can redo this and make it ice cream?” And she said, “Yep!” So we planned it. It took eight hours in her house in July and we created this beautiful still life. When it was finally time for me to do this ice cream social, it was seven courses. Paired with drinks by my friends Rhonda (Perfectly Cordial) and savory bites by my friend, Keisha (BōTANIQUE). She's an incredible chef/floral artist. Brooke recreated the painting for the place setting and it was just insane. It was 20 strangers who sat next to each other and connected. I passed out pens and paper and everyone wrote their first ice cream memories and the people would stand up and recite them. I was like, “This is amazing because the table is an anchor for the community. And that's how you bring people together.” That is the art part that I love, to be able to create that space for joy and to bring people together. That part is where I feel like an artist more so than anything else.
Do you have any advice for someone starting a small creative business?
My advice is make sure you write down what you want to do. Get it down on paper, and then find the people who can help you do that thing. You will learn your weaknesses and your strengths, and you need to find the people who will complement those strengths, and do a better job than you can do. Be open to asking for that kind of help.
I have a success check in with two women with small businesses and we hold each other accountable for our goals. That was the most helpful thing because it had me show up to the things that I said that I was going to do. The support was real and we were all going through the same thing.
Also, work hard and don't give up. It's gonna seem like it is gonna get gruesome and dark and you're gonna be overwhelmed. But you're gonna get through that part and you're gonna look back and think, “I made it.” So don't give it up. But know that your business can evolve into something else. It doesn't have to be that thing that you wanted in the beginning. It'll change over time, and it'll be better than what you thought in the beginning. And small businesses are what make communities thrive. You build it, it will last. You just have to do the work. Sometimes they might not work out and it's okay, you're not going to know if you don't do it.
Whatever your dream is, whatever it means for you, you fulfill it, no matter what. It doesn't matter what anyone else thinks, it's not theirs. It's yours. And there's gonna be shit thrown at you from all directions. But you can do it, just don't give it up. Because I don't want anyone to ever get in a place where they look back and they say I should have tried something or I should have asked. I never ask for help, but I had to learn. And then everyone was like, “I'm here for you. I love you. I support you.”
I think a lot of it is how you feel internally, where you're at with yourself and how much confidence you have in yourself and how much you believe in yourself because that's really what's important. You won’t receive anything unless you really know, so know that what you're doing is the right thing. Look forward. The only way out is through it. So in the end, what is it that you want? What do you want to accomplish and what do you want to leave?
Follow Loke on Instagram here, and her company, Saturated Ice Cream, here. Keep an eye out for pop ups in Nashville and check out her book, in stores everywhere, in 2025.
