Leclerc, Todt and former Grom partners found the start-up that produces low-calorie ice cream

New initiative in the world of ice cream for a group of investors, spanning from the business of the sector to top-level sport.
Having sold the Grom ice cream production company to Unilever in 2015 – after having founded it in 2003 – and launched entrepreneurial ideas in other fields, from wine to online courses, Guido Martinetti and Federico Grom are back in the limelight together again for an innovative but has its roots in the past.
The initiative was born from a request from Formula One driver Charles Leclerc, who intended some time ago to open an ice cream shop in Monte Carlo, his hometown.
An idea that soon turns into a more ambitious project thanks to the Ferrari driver’s friendship with Martinetti and Grom.
At the center of the new venture is ice cream, once again we return to that passion that had become a successful company, with a reduced calorie content that can combine the love for taste and the attention to physical fitness that athletes like pilots must have at the center of your preparation.
Thus was born Lec and the company of the same name which sees the three aforementioned protagonists as shareholders with 25% each together with Nicolas Todt.
“Little by little the initial idea evolved into a more complex strategy – Guido Martinetti tells Sole24 Ore – and we resumed a project that we had set up at the time with the AC Milan team’s nutritionist to create an ice cream for athletes, but which It didn’t work out because the team changed several coaches that year in just a few months. The concept is the same and aims to focus on a low-calorie product that allows you to overcome feelings of guilt and indulge in a transgression at the table or in your free time, aware of your well-being”.
However, it is not a product for athletes but for anyone who wants to pay attention to their physical form and health. In fact, the product follows precise indications related to this theme. For an ice cream to be considered “reduced calorie”, the calories must be at least 30% lower than the market reference parameters. “The structure of Lec ice cream is also obtained thanks to a high fiber content, a very important nutrient but often not present enough in our diets. Even with names not always known to the public, such as polydextrose and inulin, these ingredients are widely used and are obtained from corn and chicory respectively. Finally, for most of the flavors available, Lec ice cream is a good source of proteins” says a press release.
“With test after test of recipes and ingredients we have structured an ice cream that has the prerogatives of a delicious and creamy ice cream with an absolutely reduced amount of calories” underlines Martinetti.
The newly established company immediately aimed at international ambition.
“We consider ourselves a start up – says Federico Grom, who in the new reality takes care of the commercial area, while Martinetti takes care of the product, Charles Leclerc is testimonial and Todt is entrusted with the role of expanding the international networking area -, at the moment we are starting from Italy and France with the aim of selling one million products this year and then expanding the market in Europe and aiming overseas”.
A realistic goal that is not particularly ambitious, says Grom himself. Attention to quality remains high, from raw materials to suppliers, even if today the primary objective is to have nutritional values ​​with reduced calorie content. And a good marketing idea is to indicate the calories, very few, for the entire jar at a suggested price of 4.99 euros. “The initial investment is limited – says Federico Grom, without going into too much detail -. All together we produced the strategy to create the brand and define the global strategy and create the product with the approach to managing activities that began as a start-up with attention to costs and well-allocated investments”.