The company Hakuna Banana won the Natural Products Expo West Product Pitch Slam in Anaheim, California on March 6 with their plant-based “nice cream” product.
This ice cream alternative is made with real fruit and no refined sugar, gluten or soy. The ingredients are simple, clean and all-natural: bananas, coconut milk and dates for natural sweetness.
Hakuna Banana had some tough competitors in the Pitch Slam, an event that brought impressive, successful brands together to pitch their companies. In addition to Hapuna Banana, the finalists were Siren Snacks, Square Baby Food, Lumen and Sun Genomics.
Ultimately, Hakuna Banana took home the prize, wowing the judges and the audience with their healthy, already successful product. The treat is available in flavors like Banilla, Banana Spice, Choco Choco Chip, Cashew Cookie Dough and Strawberry. They also offer novelty treats.
The frozen dessert is vegan, paleo-friendly, dairy and gluten free, made without genetically engineered ingredients, refined sugar free, soy free and corn free.
The co-founders of the company, Hannah Hong and Mollie Cha, started the company after searching high and low for a dessert option they could feel good about, with no added sugars. They created this ice cream, which blends real foods to create a creamy, dreamy product.
Every pint of Hakuna Banana ice cream is made with at least two whole bananas. The bananas add sweetness and nutrients like potassium, though the judges of the Pitch Slam questioned whether the banana flavor could be polarizing. Not to worry, Hong and Cha assured them, the flavor is subtle and their flavor profiles ensure flavors that work well with the tropical banana taste. “Not all our flavors taste like [bananas],” their website states. “While some of our flavors are more banana-forward…others aren’t.”
To learn more about Hakuna Banana and where you can purchase the product, click here.
