The Portland-based ice cream company “Salt & Straw” got another helping of national media publicity this week, thanks to a segment on Wednesday’s “Today” show.
In the “Today 3rd Hour” program, lifestyle and commerce contributor Jill Martin introduced a feature that’s part of the show’s “She Made It” series, which spotlights women entrepreneurs.
Wednesday’s segment focused on Kim Malek, the co-founder and CEO of Salt & Straw. In the video, Martin sampled a Salt & Straw ice cream flavor — goat cheese with marionberry and habanero — and Malek told the story of how she went from work in the corporate world to creating what would turn out to be the Salt & Straw empire.
When banks responded coolly to her business plan, Malek said, she withdrew money from her 401k, and teamed up with her cousin, Tyler Malek, who developed recipes.
The segment emphasized that neither Kim nor Tyler had experience making ice cream, but proceeded anyway, opening an ice cream cart, which in 2011 grew into a brick-and-mortar shop in Portland, and has now expanded, as Martin said, to more than 45 shops across the country.
Malek talked about how Salt & Straw, known for its often unlikely-sounding flavors, changes the menu every month, to offer “something new,” and estimated Salt & Straw has sold “millions” of ice cream scoops.
You can watch the segment on the “Today” website.
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Dining and Cooking