Firm blends ice cream, alcohol
Minneapolis / St. Paul Business Journal - by Mark Reilly Senior Reporter
When it comes to business concepts, selling ice cream in a Minnesota midwinter is normally not one to stir excitement from investors or consumers. But Darryl Orris, president of The Ice Cream Bar Inc., thinks he's found the formula to warm up demand for his dessert.
Put a shot of whiskey in it.
That's the idea behind Blend's, a concoction Orris developed in conjunction with University of Minnesota researchers that combines ice cream with various liquors to create a 5-proof dessert.
After years of effort, Orris' Minneapolis-based firm is preparing to market Blend's next year in Asian markets; a domestic rollout could soon follow. "We've been building ourselves for a while and we're ready to take the next step," Orris said.
The technology won a patent in October, a key event for which exporters had been waiting. Now, a trade firm plans to take the desserts to Asia for a market launch in March, selling Blend's -- in bar-recipe flavors such as grasshopper and Brandy Alexander -- through large chains such as 7-Eleven and grocery superstores.
"They have come up with some superb products, and we think they'll be really well-received" in Asia, said Michael Kahn, president of World Trade Consultants Inc. in Glen Ellyn, Ill., which contracts with retailers such as Ito Yokado, owner of the 7-Eleven chain in Japan.
Orris is also planning a test-marketing run with 7-Eleven Inc. in Florida, where the retailer will distribute the dessert through 550 company-owned stores. Wells Dairy Inc. of Iowa will produce the dessert.
The technology behind Blend's was developed at the university's Pilot Plant, where researchers solved the key problem in mixing alcohol and ice cream -- alcohol normally attacks ice crystals, collapsing the dessert.
Orris, whose background is in food marketing, conceived the idea for Blend's in 1993 when he was preparing a sales strategy for a liquor client. He had recently read a paper by a food researcher on stabilizing cream-based alcohol drinks in the early 1980s. The result, Bailey's Irish Cream, helped establish a new industry segment -- a success Orris hopes to duplicate.
"This opens up new markets for both alcohol producers and dairy producers," he said.
The company is still seeking capital to fund initial production runs at Wells; Orris hopes to raise roughly $1 million from private investors, which should pay for the market launch.
Though the alcohol content is the biggest selling point for Blend's, it also means regulation by the U.S. Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco and Firearms, which restricts where the company can sell it and how.
The Ice Cream Bar is forbidden, for example, from selling Blend's in containers larger than 1.5 liters, which will complicate sales to restaurants. The ATF also prohibits the company from giving away storage freezers to retailers, something makers of nonalcoholic foods can do, so the company has partnered with Frigidaire, which is supplying its own coolers.
In some states, including Minnesota, the liquor also triggers high excise taxes that would price the dessert as a luxury item. That problem could be remedied, however, by a legislative change. Orris has approached a lawmaker about a bill that would lower the tax on Blend's to that of beer -- a difference of several dollars per gallon.
Though Orris maintains that Blend's is a pioneer, Ice Cream Reporter Editor Howard Waxman said that other companies had tried to marry alcohol and ice cream. Despite some imaginative attempts -- a Canadian company debuted the "winesicle," which is pretty much what it sounds like -- few have met with much success, he said. "Nothing has stayed on the market very long, though it's a charming idea."
Still, Waxman said that it makes sense to push Blend's into Asia, where consumers have more adventurous tastes than in the United States. "It's probably a smart move; I wouldn't be surprised if it had better chances over there," he said.
Mark Reilly can be reached at (612) 288-2110 or mreilly@bizjournals.com
Latest News |
Most Viewed Stories |
Most Emailed Stories |
