Century Park Capital Partners has completed the sale of The Mochi Ice Cream Company to Lakeview Capital, Inc. The Mochi Ice Cream Company is the leading domestic producer of mochi ice cream, the Japanese-inspired handheld ball of premium ice cream enrobed in soft and pillowy mochi dough. The Company’s products are distributed under the My/Mo and Mikawaya brands in grocery, club, and foodservice locations nationally.
The Hashimoto family founded Mikawaya, the predecessor to The Mochi Ice Cream Company, in 1910, and Century Park acquired majority control of the Company in 2015. At the time of acquisition, the Company’s mochi ice cream was primarily sold in niche ethnic grocery stores and certain foodservice channels. Century Park developed a thesis, based on consumer testing and research, that mochi ice cream was a product with potential broad market appeal. In particular, Century Park saw a convergence of trends around increased portion controlled yet indulgent snacking, clean ingredient labels, and growing millennial interest in authentic products. Century Park believed that mochi ice cream could achieve expanded distribution and tremendous growth through increased customer awareness.