Today we’d like to introduce you to Marc Favreau.
Hi Marc, please kick things off for us with an introduction to yourself and your story.
From Family Compromise to The Dessert Collective
Our story is a tale of two siblings—Marc and Rachel—raised by a hardworking French Canadian immigrant father and a loving mother who instilled in them the values of strong family bonds, hard work, and the adventure of new culinary experiences. After years of supporting each other through high school (Mesa, AZ) and college (BYU), their professional lives took them across the globe: Marc into engineering, supply chain, and operations (from Vietnam to Nike), and Rachel into political science and community building.
The Spark: Eleanor’s Coconut Cream
The trajectory of the business changed on a 2020 trip to California when Marc was visiting Rachel and her young daughter, Eleanor. Marc, a dedicated ice cream purist, finally relented to trying Eleanor’s favorite Taiwanese shaved ice, bao bing (in a flavor he didn’t love: Cotton Candy). It was in that moment a lightbulb went off: Why not fuse ingredient simplicity with rich flavor?
Rachel, a highly driven mother and educated professional, and Marc saw an opportunity. They didn’t just want to blend two desserts; they wanted to engineer a better one. Marc, applying his supply chain experience and a love for “nerdy ice cream books,” began documenting ingredient macronutrients and chemical bonding ratios. Rachel, working from California, spearheaded the testing. Their focus was absolute: reject all unnecessary additives and find a simple, natural ingredient base that could deliver a light, airy texture with the richness of ice cream.
After over 200 test batches and sourcing coconuts from 12 locations globally, they perfected the formula. This relentless pursuit of quality led them to Eleanor’s Coconut Cream—a naturally dairy-free product that achieves its incredible texture and taste purely through simple, whole ingredients. They didn’t set out to make it gluten or dairy-free; they simply made what tasted best.
The Food Truck and The Vision Expands
While working remotely for Nike during the pandemic, Marc moved to Utah and spent four months building a food trailer from scratch on nights and weekends. The product immediately gained traction. Customers loved the light texture that didn’t leave them feeling heavy, and demand quickly grew from local events to major venues like BYU football and basketball games.
However, scaling the operation from a food trailer highlighted a major industry challenge: the difficulty of finding an affordable, well-managed commercial kitchen (commissary) space. Working late nights, Marc and Rachel connected with dozens of inspiring local food entrepreneurs—from cake artists and bakers to meal prep companies—all struggling with the same expensive and poorly organized resources. Rachel realized their business could do more than just sell dessert; it could elevate the community they had met on the road.
Simultaneously, Marc’s personal life evolved. He met Jan Fisher (now his wife, married November 2023), who quickly became a crucial part of the brand’s design and vision, offering genius input even while navigating significant personal challenges. With an expanding team—including quality leaders like Tiffany, Misty, and numerous talented Dessert Artists—Marc and Rachel knew they couldn’t scale their product and their mission alone.
The Dessert Collective: A Hub of Elevation
Faced with consumer demand for a fixed location, and wanting to preserve the product’s quality (leading them to reject franchising), Marc and Rachel devised the hub-and-spoke model.
In January 2024, they opened The Dessert Collective in Utah. This space serves two vital roles:
Premium Dessert Storefront: It is an elevated environment with a variety of local dessert choices, including Eleanor’s Coconut Cream, which has been the consistent top-selling category since opening.
The Community Spoke: The Collective features a 1,300 square foot rentable commissary kitchen with high-end equipment (walk-in freezers, blast freezers, etc.). This resource provides an accessible, high-quality base for the local artisans and food trucks they were inspired by.
Catering: Due to the network of vendors that use the kitchen and are connected, The Dessert Collective functions as a dessert broker for consumers that want a variety of local, artisan options.
Today, The Dessert Collective is a vibrant place where our signature Coconut Cream is made and sold alongside products from many local artisan vendors—from cookies and brownies to vegan cakes. It is the culmination of a sibling’s bond, a dedication to supreme quality, and a commitment to helping others launch their dreams.
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Long Story
Marc and Rachel are brother and sister, born to a hardworking French Canadian immigrant father and a very nurturing and loving mother. Growing up, their family valued new experiences, especially culinary ones, strong family bonds, and working hard. Rachel and Marc were very close in age, attending high school in Mesa, Arizona, and college at BYU in Provo, Utah at the same time, which allowed them to support, elevate, and enjoy each other. Marc was traveling through engineering school during college while Rachel studied political science and connected with anyone around her.
Rachel got married, and her first child, Eleanor, was born in Detroit, Michigan, where she and her husband Allen were living while he was working for Teach for America. Eleanor was a blond-haired, fun, and bubbly young girl, which made it easier on her parents as they navigated going back to MBA school in Texas, living overseas in Spain, and now settling down in Walnut Creek, California, while Allen works for Pinterest. Meanwhile, Marc moved around with engineering and operations opportunities, from living in Hanoi, Vietnam, for a furniture manufacturer to Orlando, Florida, and Southern California working on fighter jets. Marc also went back to MBA school at the same time as Allen but in a different location, BYU in Provo, UT.
Post-MBA, Marc, still single, went on to work in Supply Chain Strategy and Operations for Nike in Beaverton, OR. Marc made many trips to Michigan, Texas, and California to have fun with Rachel, Allen, Eleanor, Simon, and eventually Freddy and Rosy. On one of Marc’s trips to California in 2020, Eleanor wanted to share her favorite treat, a Taiwanese inspired shaved ice called bao bing. Marc does not love shaved ice but actually prefers ice cream. Because of the bond formed with Eleanor over the years, he relented to shaved ice. But it didn’t stop there; Eleanor desperately wanted him to try her flavor, Cotton Candy, which was not his favorite, but he agreed. As Marc started thinking about how to help his sister who was struggling with being a stay at home mom and being really driven and educated. He thought that we should really do this and started to think that they really could make something awesome. Marc ordered some of the powder from Taiwan that they use to make Bao Bing, while Marc started to research the chemistry and process of how ice cream is made. He engaged rachel to start doing it with him, Rachel’s first few batches were very chalky and not the right texture they were looking for. Marc was discovering how many additives and unnecessary things were in ice cream in order to alter the flavor or shelf life.
As Marc and Rachel started sharing the things that they were learning, they decided to try their hand at a macro ingredient ratio that Marc hypothesized after reading many nerdy ice cream books. They decided to try different natural ingredients as the base fat required to have ice cream meet shaved ice. After mixing and freezing a variety of these nut milks, it was soon revealed that coconut just tasted the best, so Marc got to work. Using his supply chain experience and willingness to just try, he soon got different coconut shipped from 12 different locations across the world, and one stood out. And the evolution began; Marc began to document the ingredient macro nutrients, the chemical bonding ratios, and Rachel reacted to the various test batches. Over 200 recipes later, and a lot of taste testing from friends and family landed them their coconut cream base. Rachel started wondering which flavor combinations would work well, and they expanded the flavor base with their natural and simple ingredient mantra.
All the while the pandemic hit, Marc moved to Utah to work remotely for Nike. On nights and weekends, Marc began to build a food trailer from scratch. It took him about 4 months. Soon they started to tour the Utah food truck scene and began to get a lot of traction; people enjoyed the light airy texture and the natural taste, and it didn’t make them feel like ice cream after they ate it. They didn’t intend to make it dairy or gluten-free; it’s just what tasted best. Well, as things continued, consumers wanted a brick and mortar location. They were requested by BYU to bring their food trailer to football games and eventually basketball games. Rachel, willing and capable of pushing this demand forward, would fly out every once and a while, but living in Northern California and raising three kids did not allow for much time.
Part of the requirement for running a food truck is to use a commercial kitchen or commissary kitchen. Marc and Rachel spent a lot of time locating a kitchen that had the right equipment and didnt charge so much that they werent making any money. It was really difficult as many of these commissaires were not run well and fairly expensive but the interesting part is that they worked nights and weekends and met so many other cool people in the food space. A couple from venezuela doing really good empanadas, another local company doing prep meals, a woman doing cakes, another woman caramel, another woman doing cookies. Rachel and marc connected with all these people and were inspired by them since starting a business and navigating all the complexities of regulations. Rachel was inspired and started to get an idea of building something that could elevate these people trying to launch their amazing food and dreams.
Meanwhile, while working full time for Nike, building and selling Eleanor’s Ice Cream on nights and weekends, met a woman by the name of Jan Fisher. Jan was a true compliment to Marc, they started really enjoying hiking, playing sports, having deep conversations and soon Jan started working every once in a while in the cart with Marc. Jan continued to help out in the business and gave a lot of genius input into branding, and design. Things continued to progress and Marc ended up meeting Jan’s two kids, Ellie and Chad. At the time Ellie was 7 and Chad was 5, they really enjoyed it when Marc took them all out to enjoy the outdoors or learn something since Jan didn’t have a lot of time while getting her Masters degree in Clinical Mental Health at Idaho State University. In addition to all of that, over a three year period of dating Jan and Marc were also simultaneously navigating a protective order and a court custody battle. They grew a lot together and just got married in November of 2023, in the middle of starting The Dessert Collective and scaling Eleanors Coconut Cream.
At this point, Rachel and Marc knew they were over their heads; what were they going to do? Marc and Rachel could not do this alone and had to solicit the help and support of many amazing people including Tiffany Oaks who helped come in and run our first test location for the Dessert Collective. In addition so many different dessert artists that help create our process and brand. Later on we welcomed Misty ot the team. She shared all the same core values of life as Marc and Rachel; she was kind, easy-going, and enjoyed a quick-witted joke. On top of that, she was passionate about connecting with people, so Marc and Rachel posed the potential for her to join the team. Misty jumped head first in and has run more events and connected with so many amazing people while providing an amazing experience in product quality and customer service. She took the food truck to many locations, from weddings to corporate events to college football games to NBA games.
This team across Marc and Rachel and so many others allowed us to not only expand our simple, natural dairy-free gelato style ice cream but create a place at The Dessert Collective where we could elevate other vendors. As they considered a franchise model, accelerating their magic into their scooped flavors, or building out equipment for people to experience Eleanor’s on their own at home, they also realized that they had met so many amazing people in the food industry. They decided to try scaling their shaved, scooped evolution to a fixed location and test out the concept of owning a commissary so they started by establishing a new brick and mortar business in Utah called The Dessert Collective. The Dessert Collective is both a large rentable kitchen space and a retail location to sell Eleanor’s alongside other local dessert companies. Our rentable commissary is 1300 sq ft of kitchen space with the necessary equipment like ovens, a walk-in fridge, a walk-in freezer, and our blast freezer for Eleanor’s. The front dining space does rotate through different local dessert companies but Eleanor’s is a staple dessert company and has consistently been the number one category seller since we opened. Today it is the home of many local artisan vendors products from cookies, to brownies, to cheesecakes, to vegan cakes, to our signature Coconut Cream.
We all face challenges, but looking back would you describe it as a relatively smooth road?
Of course not. We have struggled with time, financing, equipment, managing so many different personalities to bring the vision together. Right when we decided to open the new store location Rachel’s family finally was able to purchase a new home, a step they had been waiting years to do and all of the sudden their adoption papers found their new baby. At the same time Marc, newly married, and a new father figure got a new regular job, moved to a new house to be closer to the new store location. Marc and Rachel did not have time, they needed to engage the help of others but needed to make sure their skillsets and values came through. Managing people has been really hard, we have to get things done to ensure the consumers want what we have but also juggling how to make each employee’s experience with The Dessert Collective elevate them. We have struggled, cried, and prayed to know how to operate a business that is profitable while connecting with each person. That has been really hard. In addition, the funding, each family cannot contribute to with their personal finances any more for any losses so we had moments where we didnt know how we were going to pay our bills.
Can you tell our readers more about what you do and what you think sets you apart from others?
We believe food can be an experience that transports you – taste the artistry of our unique flavor combinations, feel the passion of our artisan creators, and connect with the beauty of the moment and the people around you.
**Key Differentiators:**
* **Diverse Selection:** We offer a wide variety of desserts, catering to various tastes and dietary needs (including vegan and gluten-free options). We are not a single-dessert-type establishment.
* **Quality Focus:** We are passionate about sourcing high-quality ingredients and perform taste tests to ensure exceptional flavor and quality.
* **Woman-Owned & Local:** We are a woman-owned business deeply rooted in the local community.
* **Experiential Focus:** We strive to create an experience around our desserts, not just a transaction.
Our aesthetic is modern and sophisticated, with a touch of classic elegance. Our signature is black, white, and gold, reflecting a premium feel. The black and white checkered marble/granite floors add a touch of timeless charm.
What was your favorite childhood memory?
Marc
I have many childhood memories around playing basketball in our driveway with the light that I had fixed at the top of the roof so I could still play. I would listen to my favorite basketball team while practicing and mimicking the moves of my favorite players.
I also remember trying dumplings with my father, or crab, or lobster.
Rachel
I remember many times playing with friends, creating experiences that ranged from playing with dolls to creating funny memories.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.the-dessert-collective.com/
- Instagram: @dessert_collective
