Peekaboo Ice Cream Before Shark Tank
Getting kids to eat healthy is already a tricky task to succeed at. Getting them to eat vegetables is even more of a challenge. They always want to have the most sweet, sugary foods; however, there is an easier solution to getting kids to eat their vegetables. A sweet snack that allows them to think they’re eating sugar while they’re really consuming vegetables that are rich in minerals, vitamins, and the nutrients they need. That solution is called Peekaboo Ice Cream.
Peekaboo Ice Cream is a company that is known for their vegetable-infused ice creams. This company not provides an alternative for getting children to eat their vegetables, but it’s also a healthier option when they’re wanting ice cream. Peekaboo’s ice creams are all made with non-genically modified, organic ingredients like non-fat milk powder, cane sugar, eggs, cream, cocoa powder, etc. Not to mention, they’re packed with all the necessary nutrients and vitamins a child would get from plain vegetables. For instance, each container of ice cream contains 4% fiber, 15% vitamin A, 20% vitamin C, 8% phosphorus, and 10% riboflavin. They’re also only 170 calories per serving and have 16 grams of sugar.
The brand offers a variety of flavors to choose from. To take a better look into these flavors: the cotton candy flavor is infused with beets, chocolate flavor is infused with cauliflower, strawberry flavor is infused with carrots, mint chip is infused with spinach, and vanilla is then infused with zucchini. While these flavors may sound odd, they certainly are enjoyed by many children, and parents are happy with them too. In fact, the children of Peekaboo Ice Cream’s founder were the first to try the product. 
Peekaboo Ice Cream was founded in 2019 by Jessica Weiss Levison. As a mother of three kids herself, Jessica often witnessed the struggle of getting her children to eat vegetables. They would always make a fuss over their veggies, and Jessica worried that they weren’t receiving the necessary nutrients and vitamins they needed. This led her to seek a solution. Knowing how much her children love ice cream, she began sneakily infusing her homemade the ice cream with different vegetables. After realizing how well this worked with her kids, she decided to launch Peekaboo Ice Cream as a way to help other parents who are in the same position.
Prior to launching her business, Jessica had to go through many trial and error attempts before she finally found the perfect recipes. She first started selling her pints of ice cream at her Miami location. This location has been up and running for about 10 years; however, she’s succeeded in expanding further as well. For instance, Peekaboo Ice Cream can be found on Amazon, and in Kroger, Whole Foods, and Safeway. Now, while her company was affected by the Covid-19 pandemic, she was still able to power through it and keep her business on track. In fact, Mintel later named Peekaboo Ice Cream as one of the most innovative products of the year.
Of all of Peekaboo Ice Cream’s successes thus far, one of their greatest would be their belief in giving back to their community. This company was created with the intention of not only helping kids grow healthy, but to accredit women. Hence, why it has become a B-Corp business. Additionally, the company works with Team No Kid Hungry in order to donate to those children in need of food assistance. So far, Peekaboo Ice Cream appears to be a success; however, Jessica is hoping a shark will help her grow and expand the business further. 
Peekaboo Ice Cream on Shark Tank
Jessica Weiss Levison appeared on Shark Tank asking for a deal of $800,000 in exchange for an 8% equity in her business, Peekaboo Ice Cream. Beginning her pitch to the sharks, she shares her story and explains how she came up with the company’s concept. She then gives each shark a sample pint of ice cream to try. It appears that the sharks like the taste of the ice cream; however, they do have some concerns already.
Aside from the sharks liking the ice cream, unfortunately, things took a turn when they heard about the company’s possible $10 million valuation. Considering, Jessica has shared that she has only made $450,000 within the past year. Trying to reclaim her position on the stage, Jessica comments back, telling the sharks that she believes she will reach $5 million worth of sales by the year’s end. She also thinks she will be able to expand her ice cream into 3,000 stores. At this point, the majority of the sharks immediately drop out of the deal.
While this pitch may not have gone as hoped, Jessica did receive her first offer. Lori Greiner offers her $800,000 in exchange for a 5% equity in the company. Though, she also wants an interest rate of 6% for 3 years, and she wants Jessica to introduce a low-fat option of her ice creams. Kevin O’Leary then chimes in and offers Jessica $800,000 with a 9% interest rate. Jessica attempts to ask the Lori and Kevin if they would adjust their deals; however, they both say no. With that, Jessica leaves the Shark Tank without a deal. 
Peekaboo Ice Cream Now in 2024 – The After Shark Tank Update
After leaving the Shark Tank without a deal from a shark, Peekaboo Ice Cream appears to be remaining up and running, though there hasn’t been too much activity from the company. More specifically, the company has not posted on or updated their social media accounts in about a year. Since the Shark Tank episode aired, Peekaboo Ice Cream has launched a variety of new flavors. Some of these flavors include Strawberry Sorbet, which is infused with tomato, and Cookie Dough and Unicorn Birthday Cake, which are infused with zucchini.
While on the Shark Tank stage, Jessica predicted that she would be able to expand her products into 3,000 stores. Although this may have seemed like a stretch at the time, she did successfully reach those stores. Her ice creams were seen in Shop-Rite, Lazy Acres, Bristol Farms, and many more. Nonetheless, the Peekaboo Ice Cream pints were all removed from store shelves earlier this year due to a contamination of listeria. Fortunately, no consumers of the products were affected; however, Jessica did end up only selling her treats on her website.
Fortunately for the company, they were able to come back from the contamination situation. Any customers who bought the product were refunded. Since then, Peekaboo Ice Cream has been awarded by the California Milk Snackcelerator for their snack-sized ice cream treats. From this, they received $200,000. Additionally, the company has been featured in well-known magazines such as Forbes, PopSugar, Parenting.com, and CNBC. As of 2024, the company has an estimated revenue of $3 million.
