Two athletes turn a sweet craving into a business

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A creamy bowl of ice cream is the ultimate comfort, but for health-conscious consumers, it frequently clashes with fitness goals. Thanks to entrepreneurs Jeremiah Cruickshank and Jenae-Marie Price, dessert is being transformed from a guilty indulgence into a delicious way to reach your daily protein targets.

The young entrepreneurial duo launched their ice-cream business, Aisu Cream, in June this year. Their brand revolves around balance – finding a middle ground between healthy living and indulgence, rather than forcing people to give up their favourite treats.

With Jeremiah balancing life as a professional cricketer and Jenae-Marie drawing on her background as a former national triathlete, both know a thing or two about prioritising fitness goals over sweet indulgences.

“Both of us really love ice-cream. I think Jeremiah more than me. But it was kind of just the first thing that came to mind in terms of setting up a business in T&T. We wondered what most people would kind of lean more towards and also enjoy the most,” Jenae-Marie said.

Neither knew how to make homemade ice cream at the start. All they had was high-school business knowledge and the drive to make the venture succeed.

Jeremiah consulted a family member in the ice-cream industry, but the pair soon realised, along with researching online, that they had to create their own methods and recipes.

For the pair, the main obstacle was the long hours required to get the business off the ground.

“It definitely was not easy time-wise in the early days. We didn’t have the machinery to do a fast amount of orders. Like we were mixing with a regular whisk, instead of having like an electric immersion blender,” Jeremiah said.

“We have some very late nights, like early into the morning, like two or three in the morning because she [Jenae-Marie] also had her own job before. She recently quit her job to focus on the ice-cream. And me as well, it was just very difficult to do it during the day.”

Eventually, that late-night labour began to pay off.

For now, Aisu Cream operates online through social media, offering protein ice-cream flavours including vanilla, cheesecake, chocolate, pistachio and banana toffee.

If you are wondering how much protein is packed in each pint, the duo says it contains approximately 38 to 40 grams of protein, depending on the flavour.

Given their athletic backgrounds, both founders were familiar with the chalky aftertaste common in high-protein products. However, they worked hard to ensure their ice cream matched the taste, texture and consistency of premium alternatives.

“I think the biggest thing for us was finding our base recipe that works well with all our flavours. Because once you get that base, you know, you’ll be good,” Jenae-Marie said.

“The difficult part of it was being able to get it to taste like ice cream without making it super unhealthy or like with a lot of fat or sugar– keeping it within a good calorie range, sugar-to-protein ratio, etc.,” Jeremiah added.

He noted that a pint (16 oz) contains roughly 600 calories depending on the flavour, while a four-ounce serving is about 150 calories.

Jeremiah explained that while they do not claim their ice cream is a miracle health food, it offers consumers a realistic option to fit their personal nutrition goals. They also hope to partner with local gyms to stock their products.

“We’ve been able to achieve a premium ice-cream quality with the benefit to help with your protein intake,” Jenae-Marie said.

True to their philosophy of balance, Aisu Cream also offers alcoholic and non-alcoholic ranges. Their alcohol-infused line features flavours such as Salted Baileys, Cocoa Cognac and Vanilla & Honey Oak.

Jeremiah, however, has even bigger ambitions for Aisu Cream.

“There is still so much more room to grow. I want this to be the biggest brand in the country.”