Episode
Founder Feature: Hannah Pollack of Nightingale Ice Cream
- Podcast
- The Startup CPG Podcast
- Published
- Apr 10, 2026
- Duration seconds
- 1861
- Processing state
not_requested- Canonical source
- https://share.transistor.fm/s/d20f0725
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Summary
In this episode of the Startup CPG Podcast, host Caitlin Bricker sits down with Hannah Pollack, founder and CEO of Nightingale Ice Cream Sandwiches—a high-quality ice cream novelty brand celebrating its 10th anniversary. Nightingale crafts elevated ice cream sandwiches using non-GMO, sustainably sourced ingredients in flavors like key lime pie, banana pudding, and caramel churro that melt the way real ice cream should. Hannah shares how leaving the Marine Corps led her to culinary school, where she met her husband—a classically trained Belgian chef she lovingly calls Belgian Santa Claus—and how a dessert on their restaurant menu became the foundation of a nationally distributed brand. Caitlin shares how she first encountered Nightingale at the UNFI trade show in June 2025, courtesy of a very enthusiastic fellow exhibitor, and has been a devoted fan ever since. Together, they dig into what real ice cream actually is (and what frozen dairy desserts are trying to get away with), the strict temperature logistics of scaling a frozen novelty from Richmond, Virginia to California, and why doing site visits with distribution partners is non-negotiable. Plus, Hannah shares breaking news about Nightingale's expansion into 175 Whole Foods center store locations. Listen in as they cover: How a restaurant dessert became a nationally recognized ice cream sandwich brand The real difference between ice cream and frozen dairy desserts—and why it matters Why Nightingale's ice cream melts like ice cream should, and the challenge of keeping it that way through distribution The red flags and green flags Hannah looks for when vetting distribution partners How a culinary background and mise en place mentality shaped the way they run their facility Seasonality in frozen: what April through Au…