We were also helping build the stores and repair trucks." Sweet, sweet success We were the CFOs, the CMOs, the retail directors. "For the first 10 years there was no corporate team," Ben says. This ice cream would then be delivered to a freezer in the Bronx, at which point Ben would load it into the back of his Subaru Impreza, crank the AC and rush it to the trucks - a process he says "completely destroyed" his car's suspension. This required them to travel to the factory for each production run to help grind ingredients like nutmeg and cinnamon. Starting the business with only $60,000 forced the founders to do "almost everything."īecause they didn't have the funds to build their own ice cream making facility, they had to outsource their production to a small factory in upstate New York. They also set aside funds to hire an artist to design the aesthetic that would come to define Van Leeuwen's brand.īut even though it had a slick look, Van Leeuwen was very much a ramshackle operation when it launched in 2008. Still, it was enough to buy a pair of used Post Office trucks off of eBay and give them a second life as retrofitted ice cream trucks. An introduction to ice creamĭespite their best efforts, they were only able to raise a total of $60,000 from 15 friends and family members. Here's how Van Leeuwen went from a lone ice cream truck in SoHo to a multimillion-dollar business capable of bringing in upwards of $300,000 a day from its scoop shops alone. Van Leeuwen has nearly 50 scoop shops in seven states across the country, and its pints are sold at nearly 10,000 grocery stores including Walmart and Whole Foods. "It was so fun."ĭays like that are few and far between for Ben, who since founding Van Leeuwen in 2008 has grown it into a nationwide brand. "I ended up scooping till midnight because it was so busy," he says. ![]() ![]() "The plan was to drop off all of this ice cream and drive straight back to New York, because the next day is Monday and I have to work," he says.īut he arrived to find 100 people already waiting in line and decided to help hand out ice cream for an hour to alleviate the crush. Which is how the 39-year-old found himself pulling up to the Van Leeuwen factory in Greenpoint, Brooklyn, eight hours later to load a refrigerated truck full of hundreds of tubs of his famous ice cream before making the five hour drive to D.C. ![]() on a Saturday night and nobody can deliver that ice cream," Ben tells CNBC Make It. In fact, the ingredients list includes only apple puree concentrate instead of whole apples. We wish there were real spiced apples in the caramel swirl, but as it stands, Van Leeuwen's apple pie is a solid, surprisingly spicy fall treat.Ben, who as CEO had long since left the responsibilities of making deliveries behind, was surprised to find himself on a text chain about the new store. Although the apple flavor is present and tastes good, it doesn't pack as much of a realistic apple punch as we would like. What holds this flavor back is, in our opinion, a lack of actual apples in the caramelized apple swirl. ![]() The base is perfectly sweet and creamy, offset quite nicely by the bits of sweet graham cracker-tasting crust. The crust pieces are the right size, have good texture, and definitely help add to the apple pie vibes we are looking for. By putting the focus on some of the more unique spices of fall, this ice cream feels like a more elevated take on apple pie. It makes the ice cream stand out from other typical apple pie-flavored desserts, which usually prioritize cinnamon. We are pleasantly surprised at how the usually under-utilized fall spices like clove and allspice are so present in this flavor.
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