Sourmilk’s co-founders confronted a lookalike brand built with artificial intelligence weeks before their yogurt startup’s planned Whole Foods launch. A customer alerted them to the copied branding. Kiki Couchman and Elan Halpern found that Cupful’s website, social accounts, branding and packaging closely resembled Sourmilk’s online presence.
The New York City startup, which launched early last year, is preparing to expand its high-protein, probiotic-packed yogurt cups into more than 60 Whole Foods locations in New York, New Jersey and Connecticut. It is also set to enter more than 50 Target stores across the Northeast and Midwest next month, according to Inc.’s account of the dispute.
Sourmilk Co-Founders Tangle Over Similar Branding
Couchman received an email about Cupful the night before the founders spent the morning discussing how to respond. The brand, founded by Harvard Kennedy School student Shreya Goyal, did not appear to have a product or distribution, but its digital presentation looked nearly indistinguishable from Sourmilk’s.
Both brands used arched white bubble lettering against royal blue. Cupful’s website included cow illustrations that appeared to be lifted directly from Sourmilk’s site, while its Instagram account copied the startup’s page and echoed product photography and hand-drawn illustrations.
Sourmilk’s packaging was designed by Charlotte Cooper, and Grace Ann Leadbetter photographed its products. Couchman and Halpern later learned that Cupful’s images and branding had been generated by artificial intelligence.
Couchman posted an Instagram video showing side-by-side comparisons of the branding. Speaking to her 31,000 followers, she called the copying “actually crazy” and said the company had worked with artists to bring its brand to life. She objected to seeing that work used without compensation.
Founder Says She Removed Cupful’s Pages
More than 500 Sourmilk fans commented within a few hours, with some urging legal action. Couchman said Goyal contacted her to apologize and said she had not known about Sourmilk before the comments appeared.
Goyal told Inc. that her intention was never to imitate Sourmilk. She said she asked a large language model to help create branding for her yogurt company, then took corrective action after learning the designs were similar. Cupful’s website and social pages were deleted.
Goyal said the product had been her focus and branding was not her strength. She described artificial intelligence as a way for an early founder without an agency budget to address a skill gap, while acknowledging that she now understood the tool’s limits. She plans to relaunch with branding “rooted in our promise.”
Couchman said Sourmilk did not want to pursue a legal route. She also said the company might not have had recourse because Goyal planned to launch in India. The article does not report a legal filing.
Public Growth Brings Visibility and Exposure
Couchman connected the incident to Sourmilk’s public online presence. She said founders who build in public face this risk, and she wants the company to appear when people use AI tools to find yogurt products for gut health. She described that goal as wanting “the AGO” and wanting Sourmilk to show up.
She said she is in a group chat with entrepreneurs discussing similar copycats and worries most about direct-to-consumer brands. Sourmilk, she said, has a shelf presence that those businesses may not have. The company is also among a wider community of founders whose work and decisions are covered in stories about entrepreneurs building consumer brands.
Couchman said she uses AI for tasks such as operations. Her distinction was between using the technology and relying on what she called “lazy AI.” The company’s immediate retail expansion remains planned, while Goyal says she intends to relaunch Cupful with different branding.
For founders weighing product development and branding, Sourmilk’s case also connects with practical questions about setting a product’s price and building resources for early-stage companies. The next stated step in this dispute is Goyal’s planned relaunch; no date for it was given.