Dream Cones Knowledge Base

 

 In addition to our power-packed “how to” ice cream books, check out the Guelph University website for more info about ice cream manufacture.

 

 A typical “gelateria” as is commonly found in Italy.

An Italian gelateria is a  summer classic.  In northern Italy they often close during winter.  A “gelateria” can be a take-out stand like the classic Italian one above, or it can be an ice cream shop with tables and chairs or a kiosk. 

What’s in the Knowledge Base:

1 The Gelateria

2 Costs

3 Doing your homework

4 Important Elements of retailing

5 Leasing

6 Profit

7 Starting a small gelato Factory

8 Brief Introduction to ice cream manufacturing

9 Ice Cream Business tips

 Do Your Homework!

Before you spend any real money, it is ESSENTIAL to make a business plan.  The business plan is like a road map.  It not only takes you from dream to success, it points out all the important intersections along the way–places where seemingly small mistakes can become expensive ones later.  You can read a great deal more about developing a business plan in all of our eBooks.

 

Business plans are not only important to help you develop your strategy.  They can help you find a partner or get a bank loan.  That requires a more professional plan and, most important, an interesting 1-page cover letter explaining the whole plan. For that you might want professional software which we recommend at:  http://www.paloalto.com/?affiliate=DreamCones.

 

How to Get Started

 

There are two ways to get started in the gelato business. You can open a small shop or kiosk and make ice cream in it or off site.  Or, you can open a larger factory with two or more batch machines and manufacture for many shops and also sell wholesale.

 

The Small Shop or Kiosk

 

Making ice cream in a small shop or kiosk (or offsite) is not complicated but the required equipment is not cheap.  Three pieces of equipment are required: an ice cream machine (batch freezer), a blast freezer and a display freezer.

 

No matter where you make ice cream, a blast freezer is required.  When ice cream is extruded from a batch machine, it is quite soft–it is actually Soft Serve!  It is important to harden it quickly.  The faster it hardens the smoother it tastes.  This is because rapid freezing yields small ice crystals.

 

Commercial, restaurant-type blast freezers operate at -18°C.  This is just not cold enough to harden the ice cream rapidly.  You need a freezer that can go down to at least -30°C.  In a freezer that cold, the ice cream gets as hard as a rock in about two hours.

 

 Opening an Ice Cream Factory

 

Operating an ice cream factory requires sufficient money, planning, expertise and good equipment to be successful.  But, in fact, many startup ice cream entrepreneurs get very involved in the details and technology of the new factory and forget the most important fact:  It’s EASY to make ice cream but HARD to sell it!  So, before you think about manufacturing, think about how you will sell your products.

 

In order to be profitable a factory needs sufficient retail demand so that gross sales adequately cover fixed operating expenses.  In general, this means that a 2-machine factory needs three retail shops or 4-5 small kiosks to be profitable.

 

The Money Machine

 

One must think of the ice cream business as a sort of a machine that turns ingredients into money.  Like every machine, all of its parts are required.  Your money machine consists of making your product, then displaying, marketing and selling it.  There are two ways to do this: open an ice cream kiosk, shop (gelateria) or small restaurant or open a small gelato factory with several shops and outlets.

 

 

In a shop of 30-40 s.m. you can manufacture gelato right in front of the customers.  The advantage of doing this is that ice cream manufacture is fun to watch and becomes part of your marketing technique. Also, making gelato on-site is easier to manage and has no factory overhead or transportation costs. The disadvantage is that output capacity is usually just sufficient for the shop and maybe a few kiosks.

 

 

The minimum equipment to manufacture ice cream in a shop is a 6 L batch freezer and a very cold chest freezer or (better) a blast freezer. In order to sell the ice cream you need a display freezer.

You will be able to produce 1 tub (4.6 Liters) every 15 minutes including extrusion time.  You will also need some a digital scale, a mixer and some hand tools.  Of course this price does not include the retail decor.

 

Retailing

 

Everyone loves ice cream—It’s a wonderful business with a lot of room for creative expression and after all, one expresses love for people thru food.  But because ice cream is so popular, the market is usually saturated and newcomers have to fight their way in.  I should know—we own an ice cream business in Bangkok, possibly the most over-saturated ice cream market in the world.

 

Having helped hundreds of people get into the ice cream business, we are constantly reminded about how different we see the road to success compared to new ice cream entrepreneurs.  Almost always the first thing newcomers ask about is how to make ice cream and how much money they can make.  We think the right question is: how do I succeed in the business.

 

One thing is certain: It’s easy to make gelato, so do not focus on this when you start thinking about entering the business. 90% of our customers exhaust themselves considering which machines to buy and EXACTLY how much profit they can make per scoop.  This is important before committing money but it is the least important thing in the beginning.

 

Making great gelato is different from making money.  If you think that by making terrific ice cream the world will beat a path to your door, get your bankruptcy documents ready now. The world is full of ice cream and quality alone will not beat the competition.  What you really need to know before devoting yourself to gelato manufacture is: how will you SELL your gelato.

We always smile when people ask, “How much can I make?”  Of course we always come up with charts and graphs but one thing is certain: you will be a success if you sell a lot and a failure if not.  If you can sell a scoop for 4-6X the cost of ingredients you will probably do OK.

 

Location

 

The four most important things in the ice cream business are: location, location, location–and I forget the other one. Screw up here and your business will die.  A location mistake of even a few meters can mean the difference between success and failure.  A shop just around the corner from where the action is, is a shop on the moon.  Here is a quotation from our eBook, Gelato Maker’s Guide:

 

Here in Bangkok there is a tourist walking street named Kao San Road.  To have a shop on that street is like owning a money printing press, but one gelato kiosk died.  It was in a perfect spot, separated from the street only by a sidewalk.  Everything seemed perfect but there was a catch. The display freezer was not on the sidewalk at eye level, it was on a step and the case was just high enough so the tourists could not see the ice cream as they passed bye—so they passed by.

 

Conclusion: The step was the wrong location.

 

What could this owner have done to save himself?  We would have bought a huge flat screen and focused a video cam on the ice cream.  Every time the scooping girl scooped, everyone on the street would have seen that and also seen the gorgeous ice cream inside much bigger than life.  In other words, we would have added entertainment.

 

 

Do Your Homework

 

Why re-reinvent the wheel?  Drive around town and see what the competition is doing.  If a shop is successful, copy what you like about it.  Stand around at different times and find out how many people go in.  Once you know that, go to your proposed location and see if you have at least equal foot traffic. If not. . .

 

Leasing

 

Lease cost is important and you can fail because of excessive rent but on the other hand upscale malls, walking streets and prime locations obviously rent for premium price because they make more money. Walking streets usually require “key money” which is a high, upfront payment that expires at the end of the lease.  People who go into up-scale malls know they have to pay more—and gelato is an upscale, premium product.  Thinking of leasing in a high rent space? Ask the people in the surrounding shops how they are doing.  Ask many questions.

 

But, do not be lured into upper class malls that are really better suited for something like a jewelry store, which may be a success making just one sale a day.  An ice cream shop relies on volume.

 

Location in a mall: A kiosk is a cheap startup and a mall is prime territory if the location in it is right. If everything fails you can load the kiosk onto a truck and move.  In malls, the first floor is prime space for gelato, near entrances, escalators and main walkway intersections are best.

 

Location elsewhere: First, if you open on a street where most of the shops close at day’s end, it is likely that the street will be deserted at night, robbing you of one of your most lucrative periods.  Check out the action at night. If the location has foot traffic count it.

 

 

Synopsis: Gelato manufacture seems more complicated that it really is.  After a short amount of training we can get your whole factory going.

Manufacturing ice cream is a craft but selling it is a business.  Marketing and promotion play a larger roll in selling anything than having the best product.

 

Starting a Small Gelato Factory

 

Retail Outlets: A factory needs sufficient distribution to break even.  That usually means that you have to open 2-4 outlets of some kind, in order to sell sufficient product to break even but more importantly to create sufficient public exposure to encourage other retailers to buy your product.  Do not forget to build the retail outlets into your business plan. If you are a franchisee good way to increase sales is to develop retail franchisees of your own.  We (the parent company) are very good at finding people interested in opening retail shops and we receive many inquiries from all over the world about this.

 

 

A small factory can operate in a surprisingly small space such as a spare bedroom or garage. You will find more detailed information in Gelato Maker’s Guide..

 

 

 Manufacture in your shop or off-site?

 

Advantages of a  gelato factory:

 

Lower rent than retail sales space<
Faster production rate
Higher output- more than 1-ton per day
Ability to service many shops, kiosks, hotels and restaurants
Permits quick development of an area beating the competition “to it.”

 

Disadvantages of a gelato factory

 

Manufacturing costs associated with overhead and salaries
Requires more retail outlets to be profitable
Requires a marketing plan and distribution system

 

 

Cash reserve: If you are opening a factory you should have money reserved for promotion.  Very few ice cream businesses fail because of bad ice cream.  They fail because of inadequate promotion.

 

A Brief Introduction to Making Ice Cream

 

The most common ice cream made by the small manufacturer is called “gelato,” which means “ice cream” in Italian. It is a low-fat product made mostly with milk whereas other ice creams are higher in fat, made with cream.

 

Overview of gelato manufacture: Gelato begins its life as a “mix.”  The mix has only a slightly, sweet, milky flavor. It consists of “solids” (called “the base”) and water.  The solids usually represent 34-38% of the total mix weight.  The rest is water.  The solids consist of “milk solids, non fat” (MSNF), fat (butterfat and/or vegetable fat), table and corn sugar and a small amount of stabilizer/emulsifier.

 

The mix is first pasteurized and then “aged,” meaning chilled for three or more hours, a process which makes the ice cream creamier.  The mix is then poured into a batch machine and flavor is added.  About 15 minutes later the mix has turned into very soft gelato, about the same temperature and texture as soft serve.

 

After the ice cream is extruded from the machine it is decorated if in a tub or packed in a container.

 

The next step is to freeze the gelato as hard as a rock as quickly as possible, to minimize ice crystal size growth.  This is done in a blast freezer at -28°C to -60°C.  Sorbets and sherbets are made the same way.  Once the ice cream is completely frozen it can remain in storage for several months but usually is made on demand, not for inventory and therefore sold within a few days of manufacture.

 

Ice cream is an extremely complex food.  It is an emulsion of fats, oils water and sugar that are bonded together. It is also a foam, because air is trapped in it and it is also a matrix of ice crystals and sugars that are held in place by a stabilizer.  The chemical bonds that do all this are weak, which is why ice cream can melt and separate if kept cold.

 

Creating ice cream ingredients used to be something done in the home kitchen but modern manufacturing, where cost is an important factor is a sophisticated science.  Most small operators prefer to purchase their ingredients from a supplier who must carefully balance cost and quality.

 

Butterfat is an important component of ice cream, contributing to its texture, taste and aroma.  Butterfat plays an important role in bonding the dissimilar components of ice cream together.

 

Butterfat consists of many triglycerides (different types of fat) which solidify at widely different temperatures.  When ice cream mix is frozen some of the triglycerides remain liquid and some solidify, with every variation in between. This adds to complexity of taste, which is exciting.

 

Because gelato is low in fat it is stronger in flavor than commercial ice cream.  It is higher in protein (good gelato has about 40% of the protein found in meat) and other solids so it freezes about 2-3 degrees C colder than commercial ice cream and is a very creamy semi-solid, much higher in milk solids and much lower in air than commercial ice cream.

 

A Few Important Terms

 

Several terms are used in the ice cream industry you should know:

 

Milk solids non-fat (MSNF): also called “serum solids.”  These are the non-liquid, non fat solids, as are found in powdered skim milk.

 

Base: All of the solids used to make ice cream, including milk solids, sugars, fats and emulsifiers.  Oils are considered “solids.”

 

The mix: ice cream base including the liquids.

 

Overrun: refers to the volume increase after the mix is made into ice cream. Overrun consists mainly of air but also includes expansion in volume of water that has been converted into ice.

 

To calculate: (finish volume-start volume/start volume) x 100.

 

Example 3L mix becomes 4L of ice cream: 4-3=1; 1/3 x 100= 33% overrun.

 

The Base

Gelato is made with a milk base also called “white base.” which provides body and texture. White base is made from milk, cream, vegetable fats, several sugars and emulsifier-stabilizers.  The solids of the base are mixed with milk or water and pasteurized.  The solids are about 35% of the mix.  The rest is water.

 

Powdered or Fresh Milk Base

We sell a Powdered Milk base, which contains New Zealand powdered whole milk.  Just add boiling water and cream. We also sell a fresh milk base (Fresh Milk Base) that contains no milk, cream or sugar.  It is possible that in your country fresh milk is cheap.

 

The advantage of the powdered milk is that it is easy for workers to use–you just mix it with boiling water.  No pasteurizer is needed.  Also, the powdered milk base does not require refrigeration as does fresh milk and the consistency of the product is always the same, which the customers like.

 

The fresh milk base is preferred if fresh milk is cheap in your area.  You also save on freight, duty and can sweeten as you wish.  You will need a double boiler, pasteurizer or a combo machine that heats on top and makes ice cream underneath.

 

Sherbet Bases

Sherbets contain only 2% vegetable fat, to make them smoother and sorbets are really fruit-ices with no fat at all. Both bases are made th same as gelato but sorbets are so acidic from the high citrate and acid-fruit content that the fruit part is never heated.  Bacteria cannot develop in such an acidic environment.

 

Sorbet Bases

 

Sorbets are also called “fruit ices” and contain no fat.  Most of the liquid in them is from fruit and fruit juices.  Because they entirely lack fat, they are quite tart and very refreshing.  But, because the have no fat or protein they have no overrun and the small increase in volume is caused by the formation of ice.

 

Sorbets are sold “as is” and also used as the base for fruit slurpies or slush drinks.  The best quality slush drinks (also called graneta) are made from sorbet mix.  Sorbets are tart because they are acidic from the fruit.  They are so acidic that it is impossible for bacteria to reproduce in them.  So, while the base can be pasteurized, the fruit is added later, to prevent heat from damaging the taste.

 

Other Bases

Soy ice cream is technically not ice cream but a “frozen desert,” because it contains no milk or cream.  Our Soy-So Delicious! is made from soy powder and soy protein concentrate but it is otherwise similar to gelato and is made the same way.  Soy-So Delicious is made without any animal ingredients.

 

Sugar-Free Products

Sugar-free products have the table sugar replaced with something that does not significantly elevate blood glucose.  A variety of substances have been used, such as saccharin, sapartame, sucralose, neotame, and acesulfame potassium.  We use Maltitole, which is made from corn starch or cassava.  Our Maltitole sweetened products taste the same as sugar-sweetened products but have 40% less calories and do not raise blood glucose levels as much as table sugar.  Some manufacturers use Fructose, the sweetest of all corn sugars. This is a true sugar but the intense sweetness highly reduces the amount needed.  Other natural sugar-alcohols such as sorbitol and xylitol are sometimes used. Although classified as alcohol-sugars, they are actually not alcoholic and are halal.

Making ice cream ingredients is a sophisticated food science but making ice cream from prepared ingredients is extremely simple.

 

Pasteurization

When pasteurization was invented in the 19^th century its primary intent was to destroy harmful bacteria in various liquids. Pasteur was actually motivated to develop this process to stop the deterioration of wine caused by bacteria.

 

Today  smaller manufacturers usually buy pasteurized, homogenized milk.  Therefore the legal requirement to pasteurize a second time falls into a gray area not covered by law.  For the small operator, particularly those who use commercial packaged bases and sell their ice cream quickly there is relatively little risk of bacterial contamination.  The reason is that commercial manufacturers use ingredients such as powdered milk, sugars and whey, which are virtually sterile when produced and then they are mechanically bagged.  Commercial base-makers mix these materials mechanically and nothing is actually touched by people.

 

Today the pasteurizer plays a role in gelato manufacture quite different from its original intent.  Today the main job of the pasteurizer (when making ice cream mix) is to combine it thoroughly, entrap maximum air and age the mix so that long chains of ingredients can be formed. This makes the mix more creamy.  And of course it also pasteurizes!

 

Although Louis Pasteur discovered the benefits of pasteurization in the 19^th century, many otherwise knowledgeable people often misstate the temperature requirements to achieve pasteurization, which are different for various liquids.

 

The most commonly used ice cream pasteurization process heats ice cream mix to at least 80¼C/175¼F for 15­25 seconds or from 90¼C/194¼F for 3 seconds.  This is called Hi-Temperature, Short Time Pasteurization (HTST).

 

Another pasteurization approach, called “Batch Pasteurization” heats to 69C for 30 minutes.  This is often used for cream and custard mixes to better preserve the aroma.

Pasteurization greatly reduces the bacteria and mold count in the mix.  But pasteurization does not sterilize. Some bacteria and mold spores survive, which is why pasteurized milk eventually spoils even if it is not opened.

 Aging

Most modern batch pasteurizers also age. This means that after they heat to 83¼C, they chill to +4¼C, allowing the components of the mix to bond.  This makes the ice cream creamier.  A high-speed beater drives air into the mix during chilling and this improves lightness and texture.

 

Powdered milk base is instantly pasteurized when poured into boiling water.  If fresh milk is used it is heated in a pasteurizer or double boiler.  The resulting thick liquid is called–what a surprise–the mix. After mixing, the mix is chilled, then poured into a batch freezer which turns the mix into gelato in 8-18 minutes.

 

Batch Freezing

The batch freezer is a simple machine consisting of a compressor, which drives heat out of the refrigerant gas, turning it into a liquid.  The gas is then delivered to the space between the double walled freezing chamber (drum), where it expands and gets very cold.

 

Inside the drum is a beater assembly called the “dasher.”  The blades of the dasher are turned by a huge motor. The motor has to be huge because more and more force is required to turn the dasher as the ice cream gets hard.

 

The dasher scrapes the ice cream off the chamber walls and tumbles it, forcing air into the mix.  As the mix hardens it expands.  The expansion is partially caused by the freezing process and partially by the introduction of air.  If one liter of mix becomes two liters of ice cream it contains 50% air but in the trade we say “100% overrun.” You can expect 60% overrun from our products but most gelato has 35% overrun.

 

Overrun is important for two reasons. Without it the mix would freeze as hard as ice and be inedible.  Also, the air increases the bulk, so a scoop can be made much larger without increasing the weight.  In other words, you get to sell air for the price of ice cream.  I LOVE this business!

 

Ice cream is made by removing heat from the mix.  The heat has to go somewhere.  In air cooled machines the hot refrigerant gas passes thru a radiator cooled with blowers, just like the radiator of a car. But air cooled machines have to operate in a 24¼C environment so air conditioning is usually required.

 

In a water cooled machine chilled water circulates around the hot gas tubes a process called “heat exchange.” Water cooling is about 45% more efficient than air cooling so a batch is made much faster. But water cooling usually requires chilled cooling water.  So, a chiller is often required if the city water is not cold.

 

Blast Freezing

Blast Freezing: Gelato is extruded from a batch freezer at about -6°C.  At this temperature considerable water remains unfrozen, but it is bonded to the other ingredients by the emulsifier.  Without rapid freezing the ingredients would separate.  To prevent the water from separating and forming large ice crystals (and become coarse). It must be frozen as quickly as possible.  This is the reason the finished product is chilled in a blast freezer at temperatures for -28 to -60°C.

Sometimes, because of power failures, gelato melts.  It should never be re-frozen but it can be reprocessed by running it thru the batch freezing process.

 

Retail Display

Ice cream “hardened” in a blast freezer so hard it is impossible to drive a spoon into it.  Sometimes to get a sample we have to use a screwdriver and hammer!  This extreme cold arrests ice formation and makes it transportable without damaging the finish. Once it reaches the display freezer the ice cream warms to about 18¼C. The difference between “too soft” ice cream and “too hard” ice cream is only about 5 degrees.  The temperature controller in the display freezer is usually not sensitive enough to give you the perfect desired texture, so it has to be adjusted one degree at a time. Disregard what the temperature display shows–the only thing that counts is the actual hardness of the product.

 

Mass Produced Ice Cream

Commercial ice cream is made in a continuous freezer that can produce 1,200-20,000 liters/hour.  The continuous freezer is pressurized.  The pressurized air benefits the process in a number of ways.  It forces air into the finished product, making it lighter and cheaper.  Ice crystals made under pressure are much smaller and more numerous than ice cream made in a batch freezer.  Therefore most of the water in commercial ice cream is removed by turning it into ice. So, commercial ice cream is “dryer” and therefore more solid than gelato.

 

Since ice cream made in a continuous freezer is pressurized, once made it can be forced “downstream” thru pipes into packaging machines, cone makers or ice cream sandwich machines.

 

Since commercial manufacturers can force a great deal of air into their ice cream, they have to add more fat to give body and make the customer feel satisfied.  The fat content of premium commercial ice cream is about 18% but chocolate, nuts and some other flavorings can result in a fat content above 25%.  So, commercial ice cream is cheaper than gelato but not very healthy.

 

The highly automated continuous system greatly reduces the cost of manufacture.  A disadvantage of the continuous process is its huge setup cost and the need for an expensive and very extensive marketing and distributing system.

 

Flavors

Ice cream base is kind of bland and uninteresting.  It is the flavorings that make ice cream exciting.

 

Flavor: Some flavors such as chocolate are included in the base, but most are added to the mix after it is running in the batch freezer.  Those flavors are called “pastes” and are almost as thick as jelly.  They can be made from fruit, sugars, natural flavors and aromas.  They can also be made from nuts ground into paste.  Some are extracts such as vanilla, almond or coffee.  Flavor can be added to the mix in the batch freezer or swirled in as the base comes out of the machine.  Some flavors can be used in all frozen desserts and some are specialized.

 

Fruit flavors: Real fruit, pulp, etc. mixed with a variety of sugars are reduced in volume about 30% by slow warming at 60-70¼C. Some people think making a premium fruit pasts is simple, like making jelly, but this is not true. A complex process of acidification with citrate such as lemon juice creates a variety of new sugars that bond with the fruit, greatly intensifying the flavor.  Then more flavorings and natural aromas are added. Finding the right aroma and

flavor essence is every ice cream manufacturer’s deep secrete.  The manufacturers are extremely secretive, more like alchemists than chefs.  The acidic nature of fruit pastes helps preserve them and the long low temperature heating process pasteurizes them.

 

Vanilla is probably the most expensive flavor by weight and also the most popular of the ice cream flavors.  Natural vanilla consists of about 250 different flavor substances, the main one being vanillin.  Good natural vanilla is expensive because it the seed pod of an orchid, not easily grown and also the flavor is developed by slow curing. Artificial vanillin is manufactured from various plant fibers and is cheap but since it lacks the other 249 flavors it tastes flat.  Normally a maximum of 25% vanillin can be used to substitute for natural vanilla in ice cream but not more.

 

The vanilla flavor is extracted fro the seed pods using alcohol.  Any extract, including vanilla implies an alcohol content of 35%.  However, the heating process used to make vanilla paste drives off all the alcohol.  Vanilla is also sold as a powder, meaning vanilla extract has been mixed with glucose powder and the alcohol is evaporated.  In both cases the resulting product is halal, meaning it can be consumed by Moslems.

 

Chocolate is the second most popular flavor of ice cream. It is made from fat-reduced cocoa beans.  Defatting results in a 12-15% fat content, which must be accounted-for when calculating the content of the mix.  Otherwise the ice cream ends up being very fatty and somewhat gluey. Chocolate releases pleasure endorphins in the brain and also contains caffeine and other stimulants. Chocolate is highly addictive.  Giving up one’s after dinner chocolate can be as difficult as giving up smoking.

 

Whiskey flavors: Since alcohol lowers the freezing point of ice cream and whiskey is expensive, actual whiskey is almost never used to make whiskey flavored ice cream.  For example, Rum-raisin flavor has no alcohol whatsoever in it and is not made from rum. It is in fact halal. On the other hand, raisins are often soaked for weeks in rum and then used in rum-raisin ice cream.  So, ironically, it is the raisin, not the rum flavor which contains alcohol.

 

On the other hand, some specialty manufacturers do produce a whiskey ice cream using about 6% real whiskey.  In most cases they reduce the alcohol content by warming. They also have to use an artificial stabilizer, carboxy methyl cellulose (CMC) because natural stabilizers are rendered ineffective in the presence of alcohol.

 

Other Flavors

Companies that call themselves “all natural” cannot use synthetic flavors but often use what are technically termed “artificial.” These are mimics, identical to natural flavors in their molecular structure and cannot be detected by normal testing. For example, vanillin is the artificial mimic of the main flavor component in real vanilla. President Bush did the US confection industry a big favor by allowing them to call vanillin, made from wood pulp, “natural” because it is an identical mimic.  But the EU did not buy this and still requires their separate listing as an ingredient.

 

Huge quantities of synthetic flavors are used in all kinds of foods and drinks.  People who want “all-natural” ingredients try to avoid them but if they were actually poisonous we would all probably be dead by now, so many are used. Nevertheless, synthetic flavors have one overwhelming negative: they taste synthetic.  And that is why premium gelato makers do not use them.

 

Aromas

Since ice cream is a frozen product it has no smell. Any smell from the product before consumption comes from the tiny film of melted ice cream on the surface of the scoop. Since aroma is an important part of the pleasure of food, this creates a problem.

 

Premium ice cream manufacturers solve this problem by adding aromas made from distillates or extractions of natural flavors or by buying artificial natural flavor mimics.  In both cases the aroma is added to the paste.  The usual does is 1-3 gr./L. When the ice cream melts in the mouth the aroma is released and enters the nose thru the nasal pharynx.  Customers do not realize they are “smelling” the ice cream but now that you know this you will detect aroma in premium pastes when you taste the ice cream.

 

Aromas are quite expensive and only premium paste manufacturers use it. It adds about 3% to the manufacturing cost which is one of the many reasons why you pay more for premium pastes. Aromas are extremely concentrated and the banana oil is considered flammable, so shipment by special air couriers is fantastically expensive.  Sea freight requires shipment of at least several cubic meters of freight, so only large manufacturers can afford to buy aromas.

 

 

About Display Freezers

There are good display freezers and also a lot of really lousy ones and unless you are really knowledgeable it is easy to get burned.  In fact, I think you are better of picking a case by the reputation of the company as the differences between a good case and a bad one only become apparent AFTER purchase!

 

Before shopping for a display freezer I really recommend you buy my eBook, “Ice Cream Dream or Gelato Maker’s Guide.” They have a chapter about how to tell the good display freezers from the bad.  As a very minimum, remember that gelato freezes 2-3¼C colder than commercial ice cream and the case you buy MUST chill to at least -20¼C.  That facilitats a working temperature of -18ºC which is the minimum cold you need.

 

Ventilated Freezers

 

Ventilated display freezers have a freezing coil located in a pan beneath the ice cream and a condenser grid (finned tubing) located in the front of the ice cream display, usually hidden from the customer’s view.  Fans blow frigid air from the freezing tubes all thru the cabinet, maximizing and distributing the cold. Frost tends to build up on the coils, requiring a defrost system, which usually consists of reversing the flow of gas, making the tubing hot instead of cold.

 

The ventiated freezers we sell are self defrosting and some open from the front for cleaning.  The ones with top-opening front glass are more expensive than those which open from the bottom because the top hinge is expensive.  The ones with all-thermal insulated glass are more expensive than those with tempered glass.

 

Upper-end display freezers have thermal-insulated glass fronts and sides. This is a double layer of glass with a vacuum in between.  This keeps the glass from frosting.  In humid climates even thermally insulated glass can frost on the inside but the frost goes away.  Thermally insulated glass cases are more efficient because the glass keeps the heat out.

Less expensive cases use 7-10mm safety glass.  This is like auto window glass. It may accumulate moisture on the outside of the case, especially in poorly air conditioned spaces.  But the moisture is easy to clean and actually promotes cleaning because the water is already present.

 

The least expensive cases have acrylic panels instead of glass.  They are Ok but one must be extremely careful to clean them only with a soft cloth, never a paper towel.  If the plastic becomes dull it cannot be easily polished.

 

Static Freezers

 

Static freezers operate more like refrigerators. The chilling tubes are embedded in the walls and the fans, if any, just stir up the air, rather than force it across a chilling surface. So,they are less efficient than ventilated freezers and usually smaller, rarely holding more than 10 tubs. Also, because frigid air is not blown across the top of the ice cream, the tubs often sit lower in the case, making the ice cream harder to see. Recently, we started selling a static freezer that had a better blower system and this eliminated the need to position the ice cream lower.

 

Static freezers are usually considered the “economy” class and therefore lack front-opening glass.  Often the front display “glass” is acrylic which should NEVER be wiped with anything but a soft cotton cloth.  They usually have a drip tray under the unit which can get full and leak onto the floor.  Expensive ventilated cass usually have a heated evaporator tray. Static display freezers usually have a defrost cycle, but not the cheapest ones.

 

The cheapest static display freezers are just sliding glass door chest freezers as you would see in a convenience store. But, they have a front display glass which tells the customer that they will be served.

 

Static freezers have a few advantages over ventilated ones; they are simpler, more like a refrigerator and have fewer parts. They are usually cheaper than ventilated freezers of the same capacity. They are less maintenance prone and much lighter. Having fewer parts, they are more rugged and can be move around such as to special events. Ventilated freezers don’t like that! If the retailer (you) is located in an isolated place where service is not readily available, static freezers are often a better choice. They may not be as elegant but they run without complaint for years.

 

Smaller freezers usually run on household current. Once cases get wider than about 180 cm they either require 3-phase compressors or they have two household voltage compressors which increases the price of the case.  Household compressors are quieter than 3-phase but are not a practical power supply for larger compressors.  Cases with two compressors actually require that both compressors function. They cannot keep ice cream cold if one compressor fails, but the two compressors have a longer life than a single one.

 

Display cases are designed for selling, not efficiency.  They are inefficient at holding the cold.  Some retailers remove the ice cream from the case at night and put it in a chest freezer.  You can also improve the efficiency of the display freezer over night by covering the front glass and back door with a heavy quilt.

 

For health/safety reasons display cases have to be shut down about once a week, allowed to defrost, then be washed and finally sprayed inside with alcohol. The freezer is then run immediately so that the blowers circulate the alcohol vapor.  Within about 15 minutes the alcohol is gone and you can add the ice cream.

 

Chest or Static Freezers

A passive (static or chest) freezer is an “ice box.”  They have no blowers and usually require manual defrosting although some have electric wire defrost to keep ice off the walls.  Be sure you know what you are buying.  They are therefore much simpler and cheaper.  Since they are a closed box, they hold cold really well, even outside in the shade.  But because they do not have blowers the cold air sits in them like water in a tank.  The ice cream has to be kept a bit lower to be covered by the cold air, so they do not display as well as ventilated freezers.

Transporting Ice Cream

 

Ice cream straight from the blast freezer is the equivalent of a giant ice cube and can be transported up to 30 minutes in a corrugated cardboard box.  Beyond that rang dry ice is required. A urethane chest with a few KG of dry ice will provide up to 8 hours of cold.  If you do not have dry ice, a mixture of ice and salt will keep your ice cream cold for a few hours.  Ice/salt can maintain about -18¼ until the ice melts.

 

Ice Cream Business Tips

Making ice cream is a lot of fun and very satisfying.  Also, if you make a good product, many people will compliment you on it.  But business is not about “making.” Ice cream is about MAKING MONEY!  The best ice cream in the world is not worth much if you can’t sell it.  Success has to do with four things:

 

1 Having sufficient customers with money who will buy your products

2 Manufacturing a product at a marketable price

3 Marketing-creating a demand for what you make

4 Having a good retail location

5 Making the buying and eating of your products fun.

 

KNOW YOUR MARKET: Before you spend any money, examine your market.  If there are no established competitors, be suspicious.  Why not?  What happened to them?  It is better if other ice cream companies have established themselves.  If they can make it, you can make it.  If ice cream manufacturers have come and gone—why? If there are none are you sure there is a market for premium ice cream?

 

Take a look in the freezer cases of the local supermarkets.  Is there any premium ice cream there? And, what is its price?  Can you make a profit if you sell yours for 20% more than what is in the store? If you don’t like the answer, sell something else.

 

Next, you have to look at the retail price of ice cream sold in shops, and then see how yours fits into the existing price structure.  Can you can produce it cheaply enough to make a profit.  In general regarding retail sales, a 6X markup over ingredient cost is good and a 4X markup isn’t.  Do your homework before spending money.

 

Batch freezers make gelato.  Gelato is a premium product, richer in milk solids and more in tense in flavor but about 15-20% more expensive than middle-bottom brands.  It can only be sold where people can afford it.  In general, the middle and upper-middle classes can afford it so you must be sure there are enough of them around to have success.

 

Understanding Your Product

Remember, You are not selling food, you are selling entertainment.  Ice cream is about fun.  And, even though you think you are selling ice cream it is only part of the fun.  Your real product is a package of ice cream and ambiance.

 

A combination of friendly service, the food and drink, innovative dŽcor, the color of the walls, even the right pictures on the walls all contribute to an atmosphere that promotes sales.  There is a shop in Bangkok that makes for sure the worst ice cream in the world with a dinky little counter-top machine. They don’t even know about emulsifiers and the ice cream is full of ice.  But the shop is always full.  Why because it is located in an old, gorgeous house with fantastic views and is surrounded by a deep, comforting silence, something one can hardly find in noisy Bangkok.  People go there because the place makes them happy, not because they have great ice cream.  The ice cream you sell is just one part of what makes them happy.  That is why we make gelato beautiful and why we try so hard to create shops that are a pleasure to enter.

 

Design and colors: It is easy to see that design and colors are very important because you will se so many well-conceived shops in every mall and most malls demand a “rendering” (architectural drawing of your plan) before allowing you to proceed.  In general well lit, clean set-ups are with light warm-colored walls and modern design do well or making it look like an old-fashioned ice cream shop do well.  If you are not strong in this area hire someone who is and don’t let your ego talk you out of getting professional advice.

 

Product flow: Every process that delivers product to your customers requires a flow chart, so that they are served quickly and cheerfully. Failure to do this usually results in wasted labor and slow service.  A layout that saves your employee’s even one step is important because that one step is repeated many times.

 

Management: Kiosks do not require on-site managers but larger spaces do.  When you interview for managers look for people who show up well dressed (not necessarily in a suit) and have friendly out-going personalities.  Their job is to keep things running but making the customers happy is a real skill and most important.  Keep in mind that you may be selling food but entertainment and ambiance make or break your operation.

 

Franchising: Your shop or restaurant is your baby, a product of your imagination.  Your ego tells you it is an extension of yourself but it is not!  It is a place to make money.  It is OK to be happy when people tell you how wonderful your shop is and that ice cream is delicious but you are not in business for compliments.  Creating a shop name is a lot of fun and you may even name it after yourself but the power of branding and partnering with a larger company greatly improves your chances of success.

 

What Size Shop to Open?

 

THE KIOSK As a rule-of-thumb, a kiosk is about 9-12 s.m. (12=40 sq.ft) and can sell ice cream in cones or cups, cookies, and other small packaged treats.  The advantage of a kiosk is that the rent is low because the space is small and there is not much training for the employees.  Equipment and machinery required are minimal (but not cheap).  A kiosk is easy to maintain, the limited number of salable items makes theft control easy and the required supervision is light.

 

Relocation: In a mall, if you discover that you are in the wrong pot you can move from one location in to another. If you were smart and got an escape clause in your leasing Agreement, you can just move out.  You can close a kiosk at night and open in a new location in the morning.  In the right spot a kiosk is a real money maker.  And, what other kind of business or investment could you buy for the price of a kiosk?

 

THE SMALL SHOP is about 20 s.m. (65 sq. ft) and has seating, suggesting sundaes, a variety of cakes and cookies but also a small light food line of 3-4 dishes, such as sandwiches, food like spaghetti, soups, stews that can be made off premises and heated in the microwave.  The food broadens your product line and attracts people who want to eat something before eating ice cream.  It also appeals to people who want a quick, light meal and, since it is light they may want ice cream afterward.  This is an advantage over a kiosk.

 

THE SMALL RESTAURANT is about 45 s.m. (147 sq. ft) requires a 20-flavor display freezer, a cake case, an upright ice cream cake and roll freezer that also holds cold dishes and  mugs. A glass-door refrigerator holds drinks and ingredients that require refrigeration. A coffee machine is worthwhile and good coffee sells.   Get a slush machine.

 

You need a cake and pastry line and can show models of your light food line in the cake case.  You should have a menu of 8-10 meal selections.  Your small restaurant may have a kitchen but if space is at a premium most entries can be made off premises and reheated. In countries where pizza or gyro sandwiches are popular these are nice additions.  You can also make crepes and flaming deserts.  In addition to the right location, skills in marketing, advertising and knowledge of restaurant management are essential.  If you are not knowledgeable in these areas go to school or get books before starting.

Want to know more: check out www.foodsci.uoguelph.ca/dairyedu/icecream.html