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In just the past 8
years, organic food sales have grown by 10.2
Billion Dollars!
Unlike the fad of frozen yogurt,
I believe organic products and all natural ice creams are a genuine trend in the
frozen dessert industry. True, frozen yogurt produced in a batch freezer or a
soft-serve machine hung around for a number of years, but it was ill fated due
to its false promise of being a “healthy dessert for the diet conscious and
really good for you.” Nothing could have been further from the truth!
Emery Thompson Batch
Freezers have the ability to produce any flavor, air content and consistency of
organic and all natural ice creams that the store owner can dream up. What
exactly does “organic” mean? For our purposes, organic fruits are those grown
without pesticides, herbicides, antibiotics or hormones. No genetic engineering
going on here. The land the crops are grown on must also be certified free of
these artificial ingredients for a specific number of years prior to harvesting
a crop of “organics.” The net result of going all natural and certified organic
is ice cream and sorbets that have a cleaner, fresher taste.
It won’t be easy
going organic. Emery Thompson is striving to be a leader in this movement, but
organic fruits are in short supply and the prices are certainly on the high end
of the scale. In the coming months and years I will work to bring you names and
addresses of organic suppliers as they relate to our industry. Proof that “going
organic” is a trend and not a fad… Wal-Mart, the world’s largest retail chain,
is now offering organic fruits and vegetables in all its stores!
HOW TO MARKET
ORGANIC AND ALL NATURAL
Like I said, going organic (in the short run) won’t be easy. There
are a few pockets of all organic ice cream parlors, mainly in northern
California and Colorado. This trend will certainly spread. For now, I urge you
to start down this healthy (and profitable) path in your own store. You can
begin by offering an “organic special of the week.” That is one specific flavor
made fresh daily. Serve it like Gelato – fresh from the Emery Thompson batch
freezer. Serve it in a cup and promote adding toppings to the ice cream or
sorbet. A $3.00 serving of ice cream can jump to $3.50 with the addition of just
a couple of spoonfuls of granola. Use organic fruits added right into your ET
batch freezer. Remember, fresh organic boysenberries are available somewhere in
the world right now! Try to pick unique flavors that the customer can’t
find every day and after the “organic special of the week” is over – take it off
your menu. Nothing brings customers back like telling them they can’t get that
flavor again till this time next year.
Going
organic costs more! Or how to turn a negative into a positive. Nothing
can hurt an ice cream business more than having multiple rate structures. I once
saw an ice cream parlor in the Florida Keys that didn’t make their own products.
They were buying from two different suppliers. Some flavors cost $1.75 while
others cost $2.10. Talk about confusion and ill will to the customer when you
tell them their two scoop serving will cost them $3.85 instead of $3.50! With
the “organic flavor of the week” we can charge a higher price and the customer
won’t feel ill served. Note: this also works for higher cost liquor ice creams.
“Viva la
difference” Now that
you are different from all your competitors, advertise your uniqueness! One of
my more famous frozen custard customers in Wisconsin has a web site whose
specific purpose is to advertise their “special of the week.” I’m told that
their customers flock to the site every Sunday night to see what special
concoction they are offering this week. I think that’s a great idea and it keeps
your site current. Also, don’t forget the chalk board sign outside the store
enticing customers to come on in and try your new organic sorbet, Gelato and ice
cream.
As this
portion of our web site grows (and it most certainly will) please send me names
of organic suppliers that you’ve found, flavors that you’ve tried in other
stores and of course your own ideas for organic ice creams, sorbets and Gelatos.
We’ll print your name and discovery right here. My personal E-mail address is
etfreezers@gmail.com.
Healthy eating,
Steve Thompson, President
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