Ice Cream/Novelties

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Dairy Foods editor-in-chief Jim Carper spoke with Mario Leite, the founder of Tea-rrific! Ice Cream, about the company, his goals and lessons that he would share with other food entrepreneurs.

Consumer interest in clean labels (that is, the use of ingredients perceived to occur naturally in foods) has created a challenge to ice cream formulators.

Brooklyn, N.Y.-based Van Leeuwen Artisan Ice Cream added several new flavors to its dairy and vegan ice cream lines

Neal Gottlieb, the founder of Three Twins Ice Cream, needed more capacity to keep up with demand for his organic ice cream. His facility in Petaluma, Calif., was maxed out. Adding shifts was not feasible. Gottlieb bid the work to co-packers but said their quotes were “sky-high” and the quality of the test runs was a “disaster.”

Three Twins Ice Cream has grown into the leading brand of organic ice cream in just 10 years. In the course of a decade, its gone from a scoop shop to owning manufacturing facilities in California and Wisconsin. A Three Twins cause-marketing program has conserved 8,000 acres of rain forest in South America. Through another program, the company donates 1% of its sales to environmental groups.

Sales in the ice cream category look promising as dollars and units rose in the last year. Meanwhile unit sales in the frozen novelties category were frozen in place.

Flavored eggnogs and limited-edition ice creams and yogurts hit stores for the holiday season.