Charles Leclerc, one of many quickest drivers in Method 1, appeared a tad sleepy. Regardless of being between races and time zones — a wet Circuit Gilles Villeneuve in Montreal final week and the Spanish Grand Prix two weeks after — he was up very early on a video name from Lake Como in Italy, to speak about his new enterprise enterprise: LEC, a low-calorie ice cream.
It’s not unusual for world-famous sports activities stars to launch model extensions that embrace ventures like sneakers, perfumes and vogue traces, however ice cream?
Throw into the combo Scuderia Ferrari, a crew with the very best of racing pedigrees, and an F1 driver’s want to take care of power, endurance and a exact weight to compete on a number of the most demanding tracks on the planet at 200 miles per hour, and a candy deal with related to vegging on a settee seems to be an off-track transfer.
Mr. Leclerc, a teen favourite on the Netflix docuseries “Drive to Survive” together with his boyish appeal and tousled hair, laughed when requested concerning the pivot.
“Look, my precedence stays to be on monitor and the quickest,” he mentioned. A couple of weeks in the past, Mr. Leclerc grew to become the primary Monegasque driver to win the Monaco Grand Prix in 93 years.
Method 1 drivers are topic to crushing bodily calls for. They will lose roughly 4 to 9 kilos of fluid, burn by means of 1,500 energy and lose as much as 5 % of their physique weight throughout races. With vitamin being such a essential a part of a driver’s life, Mr. Leclerc noticed house out there for low-calorie ice lotions appropriate for athletes. The legendary driver Ayrton Senna as soon as mentioned, “For those who not go for a niche that exists, you’re not a racing driver.” Mr. Leclerc, a budding entrepreneur at 26, is making use of that knowledge to enterprise.
What units LEC aside from different ice cream manufacturers is its dedication to well being with out compromising on style. In response to the Unione Italiana Meals, an Italian affiliation representing meals product classes, the typical tub of ice cream is round 200 energy per 100 grams. This makes LEC’s most calorie content material about 32 % decrease than the best-selling ice lotions on the Italian market. Sometimes, calorie discount is achieved by reducing fats and sugar. LEC recipes give attention to decreasing fats, which by no means exceeds 5.2 %.
LEC, out there in 5 flavors, begins at 335 energy for a bath (slightly below a pint) of vanilla. Mr. Leclerc, ever exacting, examined all of them. He mentioned the crew behind the brand new enterprise labored by means of blind checks, making an attempt the rivals’ choices. Guaranteeing that LEC tastes like common ice cream was important to the method. He recalled being a boy watching Grand Prix races with a bath of ice cream.
“I needed to work on a enjoyable mission,” he mentioned. “I really like ice cream however might eat much less as my monitor tasks elevated. I needed to create one thing with decreased energy so I might eat it extra typically.”
His favourite taste is vanilla, or Vanillove on LEC containers. The names of different variations embrace Salty Carammmel, Swirly Pistachi-oh!, Peanut Caramel Tango and Chocolate Crunch. A bathtub sells for 4.99 euros, or about $5.37.
Mr. Leclerc loved experimenting with the packaging, which has the brand’s melting typeface and coloring designed to pique curiosity among the many labels present in a grocery store’s gaudy deep-freeze containers.
“I’m a really artistic individual,” he mentioned. (When the 2020 Method 1 season was postponed due to the coronavirus pandemic, Mr. Leclerc taught himself to play the piano.)
In a daring first transfer underlining his aggressive mettle off the monitor, LEC was launched in Milan, a metropolis the place gelato is a pillar of life inside a rustic mentioned to be its birthplace. LEC performs on the Italian verb “leccare,” which implies to lick, and attracts again to his surname.
“I grew up in Italy,” Mr. Leclerc mentioned. “And, in fact, being a Ferrari driver, I’ve a particular hyperlink now.”
Mr. Leclerc partnered together with his buddies Federico Grom and Guido Martinetti, founders of the Grom gelato chain, and his longtime supervisor, Nicolas Todt, to get LEC to the end line. It’s offered by means of Italian grocery store chains like Esselunga.
American followers might have to attend a little bit longer. In regard to distribution in the US, he mentioned the crew had obtained loads of curiosity and would contemplate worldwide releases subsequent.
“If it really works in Italy, there’s no purpose we are able to’t strive it in different nations,” Mr. Leclerc mentioned.
