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Dairy-free ice cream start-up wins 2017 Telstra New Business Award

Australian coconut milk ice cream start-up, Over The Moo, has taken out the 2017 Telstra New Business Award. The New Business Award is open to young businesses less than three years old and recognises the company’s rapid growth in the competitive retail market.

Founder Alexander Houseman, came up with the idea for the business in 2015 after becoming fed up with the lacklustre dairy free ice creams available at his local supermarket. After developing a unique recipe, Houseman quit his job to move back in with his parents and save for his first batch of production.

“I really felt that I’d created something unique,” said Houseman. “It was a product that delivered comparable taste and texture to traditional dairy and didn’t skimp on indulgence. I knew Over The Moo wasn’t like anything else on the market.”

Two years after launching the product, Houseman has achieved the mainstream success which eludes most food start-ups. He’s penned deals with Woolworths and a range of independent supermarkets and is now ranged in almost 1,000 stores nationally.

This financial year, Over The Moo cracked $1 million in sales and is enjoying a gross profit increase of 515 per cent year to year. They also launched Australia’s first dairy free ice cream truck in March.

Despite this rapid growth, Houseman says the announcement that Over The Moo had been named as a Finalist came as a surprise: “We entered because we were keen to see how we measured up against other businesses. Being tapped as the top new business in the country was totally unexpected,” said Houseman.

Now in their 25th year, the Telstra Business Awards showcase and celebrate the achievements of Australia’s most brilliant small and medium businesses across five categories. The awards aim to promote organisations working to build a heathier and smarter future for the nation.

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