Saving the Planet One Scoop at a Time

You've seen the green cartons at Whole Foods and Petaluma Market, the ones with three little heads adoring ice cream flavors like Dad's Cardamom, Mint Confetti and Madagascar Vanilla. The man behind all that sweet goodness is Neal Gottlieb, the 34-year-old founder of Three Twins Ice Cream, which has three retail locations around the North Bay and a wholesale operation in Petaluma. 

And since I know you're wondering about the name, I'll just cut to the chase. Gottlieb's twin brother, Carl and sister-in-law, Liz, also a twin, help run the business. Get it? Three twins.

“It’s still a family business with help from lots of investors,” Gottlieb said. “We’re up to ten employees now including my parents.”

Following a stint in the Peace Corps in Morocco, which was cut short by the war in Iraq, Gottlieb returned to the Bay Area and opened a small ice cream shop in Terra Linda in 2005.  The location was lousy and the customers sparse. But Gottlieb believed in his vision of organic, dye-free, gum-free, absolutely no corn fructose, old-fashioned ice cream utilizing the very best ingredients he could find. He realized pretty quickly he’d need to develop a wholesale business.

By April 2006, Three Twins landed its first restaurant account, Rose's Café, started selling at the Berkeley Farmers' Market and by fall was selling in supermarkets. It was also at this time that Gottlieb’s company joined 1 Percent For The Planet, a non-profit that certifies companies that donate money to planet-friendly causes.

“My first goal, really, was not to go broke," he said. "I wanted to sell great organic ice cream at a fair price, and treat my employees well. And I’m committed to donating one percent of sales."

Gottlieb's philanthropic focus is on supporting open land trusts.

“I feel that it’s apolitical and needed, and something I can feel really good about. I like to think that each serving of ice cream pays for a square of open land. That makes me happy,” he said, framing a square inch with his fingers and thumbs.

Gottlieb says he likes the vibe of the town, lunching at  at least once a week.

He commutes to work from Sausalito where he lives on a 27-foot boat called “The Incorrigible.” A world traveler, he collects native textiles, mainly rugs from Turkey, India, Tibet and Morocco.

The company is pulling in more than $2 million in sales and plans to expand, first regionally, then around the country.

“I want our ice cream in and I could even see it in a huge chain like ,” Gottlieb said.

While Three Twins sales may be up 100 percent over first quarter last year, going national is quite a goal, according to ice cream industry experts.

“What most small producers don’t realize is the most important thing is to have packaging in place with complete nutritional information and barcoding,” said Malcolm Stogo, founder of the Ice Cream University in Newark, New Jersey, which offers consulting and seminars for ice cream entrepreneurs.

“People focus on flavors when barcoding is crucial.”

Stogo said he consulted with Three Twins early on.

“Getting on the shelves isn’t hard, it’s staying on that’s hard. If you don’t sell out, move product, you’re gone. That’s why customers have to have a reason to buy your product. Creating a cult for your product, that’s really important,” Stogo added.

With a small but diverse line up of flavors including bittersweet chocolate, mint confetti, chocolate peanut butter, strawberry je ne sais quoi (which includes hints of balsamic vinegar) and lemon cookie, Three Twins is making fans fast.

And if the line and elbows at their booth at the recent showing of indie-film “” at , which Three Twins sponsored, is any indication, we should be seeing those green cartons with the curly haired twins in more stores.

And when you do, make sure sure you try the Cardamom. It sounds weird, but tastes delicious.