Cottage cheese has long outgrown the breakfast bowl — now it’s conquering the frozen aisle. As DairyReporter reports, US brand Smearcase is bringing froco to market: a cottage cheese-based frozen dessert with 40g of protein per pint, clean ingredients and added collagen.
Cottage cheese ice cream is still the only frozen cottage cheese product in the US, two years after its launch. Co-founded by Joe Rotondo and Drew Dispirito, Smearcase first landed on shelves in New York City in summer 2024, joining the Real California Milk Excelerator accelerator the same year and winning $130,000 in total to scale production and distribution. In 2026, the brand took first place at the Expo West Albertsons Innovation Launchpad pitch competition, securing close to $200,000, and venture firm Listen Ventures has since invested to support the scale-up.
Distribution is now expanding: Smearcase has added wider Whole Foods coverage across the Northeast, launched nationwide in Sprouts, and is rolling out in Fresh Thyme and Fresh Market.
The brand’s founder is clear about its positioning. “I would argue that we’re a cottage cheese platform,” Rotondo said. “We just so happen to be high-protein. What excites us is this notion of cottage cheese as the platform for real, whole foods, not protein-powder ice cream.”
Froco technically falls outside the legal definition of ice cream — too low in fat to qualify — but that’s part of its appeal: low fat, low sugar, low calories, high protein, no gums or stabilisers, and competitive on taste. “We’re not sacrificing taste, and we’re not sacrificing health,” Rotondo said.
With four SKUs currently on shelf, the goal is to reach seven or eight flavours, take up a full shelf — and then explore the next growth avenue.
Source: DairyReporter
