Filling a niche with la crème

Denied ice cream, woman invents a gluten- and soy-free frozen substitute
By Theresa Hogue, Gazette-Times reporter
Amber Humphrey considers herself sort of an ice cream fairy, bringing the creamy frozen dessert to people who never thought they could eat ice cream again. Her alternative “ice la crème” products came from her own health problems and inspired her to search for healthy ways to keep her family happy.

“It came from my own brokenness,” Humphrey said. As a young woman, she struggled with the effects of rheumatoid arthritis, which crippled her to a point that the pain eventually confined her to bed. Although she reluctantly sought out help from doctors, she was determined to find a way to become healthier through changing her lifestyle — a pursuit that led to her becoming a nutritional consultant. By drastically altering her diet, she found that she could get off her prescription arthritis medications and regain her normal life.

She also wanted to change the way her family approached food. As the mother of five children, she felt a responsibility to correct the bad habits she’d instilled early on, like a dependence on processed foods and canned fruits and vegetables. But she didn’t want to take away the things they liked.

“I didn’t want to be a killjoy for my family,” she said.Through her research, she began crafting foods that she deemed healthy, including natural sugar substitutes and homemade products with no artificial ingredients. Her first success came with cinnamon rolls, and then she moved on to a bigger challenge finding a way to replace her favorite dessert: ice cream. Humphrey already has three successful businesses that she runs out of her Timberhill home, and she had no need nor desire to stretch her time and resources into yet another venture.

“Honestly, I was exhausted thinking about it,” she said. But she felt compelled to start sharing her healthy alternative ice la crème with others.

Aside from the taste, however, her product stacks up well in the all-important nutritional information box. Comparing a half cup of her chocolate ice cream substitute to a half cup of a premium chocolate ice cream, you’ll find the rich stuff is 270 calories (162 from fat) compared to 162 of Humphrey’s product, with 86 calories derived from fat. Most important, the premium ice cream has 115 mg of cholesterol per serving; her frozen dessert has no cholesterol.

So how come nobody else has come up with this formula?

“Amber thinks in ways that others don’t,” her friend and manager Sheri Swain said. “She sees something and finds a way to make it for herself, but make it healthy.”

After taste tests at local schools and among friends proved that she was on to something, she sought help from her good friend Christine Dunn, a retired HP engineer with a lot of business savvy. Dunn connected her with the Oregon State University Food Innovation Network in Portland, which has a team of experts that helps food entrepreneurs with everything from recipe development to marketing. They helped Humphrey develop her idea into a new product, and then helped her take it to market.

Representatives from the First Alternative Co-Op also gave her a big break. They tried the product and immediately wanted it on their shelves. The product is low glycemic, dairy and lactose free, soy free, cholesterol free, gluten free and has no hydrogenated oils or trans fats. In fact, she said, the product can be eaten by pretty much anyone except for people who have allergies to nuts.

“There are too many compromises” in food production, she said. “I want it healthful.”

Humphrey’s goal is to gauge local response to the Heaven Sent Ice La Crème and then expand her market into Eugene and eventually into Portland. Right now, she makes the product out of her home, but she wants to either open her own factory or partner with another food maker to get her product into wider distribution. She’s also has plans for other healthy products, ranging from frostings and whipped toppings to creamer and puddings, and she’s very optimistic about the future.

“There have been a lot of miracles along the way.”

Heaven Sent Ice La Crème is available at both First Alternative Co-op locations.
Original Gazette Times Article