Premium soft serve has always leaned on two things: dairy and refined sugar. A Brooklyn-born brand called hacco is betting the next chapter of frozen dessert comes from a very different place — fermented rice.
To prove the point, hacco has recruited serious firepower: Chef Jean-Thomas Schneider, the world's only chef to simultaneously hold the titles of Meilleur Ouvrier de France (MOF), Pastry World Champion, and Ice Cream World Champion. Together they're developing a new generation of premium, plant-based soft serve built around koji, the fermented rice at the heart of Japanese cuisine.
Fermentation as a Flavor Engine, Not Just a Substitute
The pitch here is the interesting part for operators. This isn't a "swap dairy for oat milk and hope" project. hacco and Schneider are exploring how richness, balance, texture, and flavor can be built naturally through fermentation rather than bolted on with additives or sweeteners.
At the center is KOJI BARISTA, which the company says delivers a naturally smooth, creamy mouthfeel and gentle sweetness — an indulgent experience without dairy, and without the funk many diners still associate with fermented foods.
"During my visit to Japan, I discovered a philosophy of living in harmony with nature," said Chef Jean-Thomas Schneider. "Fermentation is not simply a technique—it brings depth, balance, and a gourmet quality to food. KOJI BARISTA opens exciting possibilities for creating exceptional desserts with naturally derived ingredients."
From Alsace to Niigata
Schneider is the founder of Maison Asteria in Alsace, France, where he creates premium plant-based desserts rooted in nature, craftsmanship, and innovation. As part of the collaboration, he traveled to Japan with the hacco team and visited Uonuma Jozo in Niigata to experience traditional koji production firsthand.
That hands-on immersion — watching how koji is made and absorbing the Japanese philosophy of living in harmony with nature — is what he's now channeling into a new line of koji-inspired frozen desserts.
Where You'll Taste It
The creations will debut at hacco's flagship hacco Bakery Café, opening this winter at 160 Bedford Ave., Brooklyn, NY 11249. Born in New York and inspired by koji, the café blends traditional fermentation with modern craftsmanship across baked goods, beverages, and culinary experiences — showcasing koji through pastries, coffee, and seasonal offerings.
Why It Matters
For foodservice operators and menu developers, this collaboration is a signal worth watching on two fronts.
- Fermentation is becoming a premium positioning tool. Koji is moving out of the miso-and-sake conversation and into desserts, where its ability to create sweetness and creaminess without dairy or refined sugar answers three demand curves at once: plant-based, better-for-you, and clean-label.
- Credibility sells the category. Pairing an emerging ingredient with the only chef holding MOF, Pastry World Champion, and Ice Cream World Champion titles gives a novel product instant authority — a playbook operators can borrow when introducing unfamiliar formats to cautious guests.
- Dairy-free no longer has to mean compromise. If koji-based soft serve delivers genuine indulgence, it opens dessert menus to lactose-avoiding, flexitarian, and vegan diners without the "alternative" penalty in taste or margin.
The practical takeaway: watch how texture and mouthfeel — not just ingredient lists — become the battleground for the next wave of plant-based indulgence. Operators evaluating dessert innovation should be tasting fermentation-forward products now, before they hit the mainstream.
The Bigger Picture
This fits a broader food and beverage trend: chefs and brands reaching for natural processes — fermentation, botanicals, whole-food sweetness — to deliver premium plant-based experiences that stand on flavor rather than novelty. For a look at how another plant-based label is scaling that idea, see our coverage of MEDASE Cocktails, the Black-owned zero-proof brand now in every SoCal Erewhon.
Planning a Brooklyn visit or building your winter dessert program? Keep hacco's Bedford Avenue debut on your radar — and tell us in the comments: is koji the next big lever for dairy-free indulgence, or a niche play? We want to hear how you'd put it on your menu.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine’s “Top 40 Under 40” for founding American Wholesale Floral. Politz is also the founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
