Anybody have ice cream too?

We are looking at putting in hand dipped ice cream as an addition to our menu and to attract more day/afternoon business. Anybody done this?

I did soft-serve a few yrs ago…moderately successful…

We are a gourmet pizza (family style) dine in/take out place. We are going to do premium quality Blue Bell with all the toppings- waffle cones, etc. I have the space and place to serve it already built in. We just opened last Friday but I think this would be a great addition.

BAYOULADY52,

Yes, we also serve Blue Bell ice cream. We’ve got an 8 dip cabinet at the front carryout counter. It does… okay. Nothing really special.

We’ve actually talked about using the single serving packages from Blue Bell for deliveries (they provide the freezer/display case free of charge) and replacing my dip cabinet with a 4’ sub makeline. To me, there’s way more money with Pizza-N-Subs than Pizza-N-Ice cream.

-J_r0kk

J Roc

I am interested in seeing what your front counter looks like with the dip freezer there. if you have a pic or a model number for the cabinet I would love to see it thanks.

Well, we do subs (po-boys, muffalettas) too. And pasta, and soup of the day, and an assortment of salads. Wings, Appetizers, etc. I just thought that the ice cream would round it out and add an additional revenue stream. It would also attract the kids to bring their parents. And that it might bring people in during the day or afternoon when normally we dont have alot of traffic. We are next to a C-Store and they sell the individual pints of Blue Bell. They suggested we do hand-dipped. Blue Bell here doesn’t provide the freezer, I have to buy one. So before doing that I would like opinions on the project. Thanks

One reason they suggested it is likely to avoid having more competition . . . I don’t blame them. Pre-packaged units have longer shelf life, better portion control, and simpler storage/handling processes. You can carry as many varieties as you think you can move. Once you oepn that 3 or 5 gallon tub of ice cream, the clock starts ticking, and quality starts dropping if not sold reasonably quickly . . . I could not move one tub in a week.

If you have a cooler available to deliver with . . . pints could be a big seller for you or a bust. Ice cream bars, klondike bars, nutty buddies, pushups, individual packaged italian ice, all sorts of novelties come to mind that we have considered, and will add when we get a good freezer in place this summer.

Two Tone,

Here’s a picture of my store at around 2PM (I originally posted 11AM, but that time is incorrect) on my Customer Appreciation Day.

http://www.geocities.com/j_r0kk/cad-1.JPG

http://www.geocities.com/j_r0kk/cad_4.JPG