Charles Leclerc, one of the fastest drivers in Formula 1, looked a tad sleepy. Despite being between races and time zones — a rainy Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal last week and the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks after — he was up very early on a video call from Lake Como in Italy, to talk about his new business venture: LEC, a low-calorie ice cream.
It’s not uncommon for world-famous sports stars to release brand extensions that include ventures like sneakers, perfumes and fashion lines, but ice cream?
Throw into the mix Scuderia Ferrari, a team with the highest of racing pedigrees, and an F1 driver’s need to maintain strength, endurance and a precise weight to compete on some of the most demanding tracks in the world at 200 miles per hour, and a sweet treat associated with vegging on a sofa appears to be an off-track move.
Mr. Leclerc, a teen favorite on the Netflix docuseries “Drive to Survive” with his boyish charm and tousled hair, laughed when asked about the pivot.
“Look, my priority remains to be on track and the fastest,” he said. A few weeks ago, Mr. Leclerc became the first Monegasque driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix in 93 years.
Formula 1 drivers are subject to crushing physical demands. They can lose roughly four to nine pounds of fluid, burn through 1,500 calories and lose up to 5 percent of their body weight during races. With nutrition being such a critical part of a driver’s life, Mr. Leclerc saw space in the market for low-calorie ice creams suitable for athletes. The legendary driver Ayrton Senna once said, “If you no longer go for a gap that exists, you’re no longer a racing driver.” Mr. Leclerc, a budding entrepreneur at 26, is applying that wisdom to business.
What sets LEC apart from other ice cream brands is its commitment to health without compromising on taste. According to the Unione Italiana Food, an Italian association representing food product categories, the average tub of ice cream is around 200 calories per 100 grams. This makes LEC’s maximum calorie content about 32 percent lower than the best-selling ice creams on the Italian market. Typically, calorie reduction is achieved by lowering fat and sugar. LEC recipes focus on reducing fat, which never exceeds 5.2 percent.
LEC, available in five flavors, starts at 335 calories for a tub (just under a pint) of vanilla. Mr. Leclerc, ever exacting, tested all of them. He said the team behind the new venture worked through blind tests, trying the competitors’ offerings. Ensuring that LEC tastes like regular ice cream was vital to the process. He recalled being a boy watching Grand Prix races with a tub of ice cream.
“I wanted to work on a fun project,” he said. “I love ice cream but could eat less as my track responsibilities increased. I wanted to create something with reduced calories so I could eat it more often.”
His favorite flavor is vanilla, or Vanillove on LEC containers. The names of other variations include Salty Carammmel, Swirly Pistachi-oh!, Peanut Caramel Tango and Chocolate Crunch. A tub sells for 4.99 euros, or about $5.37.
Mr. Leclerc enjoyed experimenting with the packaging, which has the logo’s melting typeface and coloring designed to pique interest among the labels found in a supermarket’s gaudy deep-freeze containers.
“I’m a very creative person,” he said. (When the 2020 Formula 1 season was postponed because of the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Leclerc taught himself to play the piano.)
In a bold first move underlining his competitive mettle off the track, LEC was introduced in Milan, a city where gelato is a pillar of life within a country said to be its birthplace. LEC plays on the Italian verb “leccare,” which means to lick, and draws back to his surname.
“I grew up in Italy,” Mr. Leclerc said. “And, of course, being a Ferrari driver, I have a special link now.”
Mr. Leclerc partnered with his friends Federico Grom and Guido Martinetti, founders of the Grom gelato chain, and his longtime manager, Nicolas Todt, to get LEC to the finish line. It is sold through Italian supermarket chains like Esselunga.
American fans may have to wait a little longer. In regard to distribution in the United States, he said the team had received a lot of interest and would consider international releases next.
“If it works in Italy, there’s no reason we can’t try it in other countries,” Mr. Leclerc said.
Source link: https://www.nytimes.com/2024/06/17/style/ferrari-formula-one-charles-leclerc-ice-cream.html