Gelato has been a frozen dessert delighting many for thousands of years, and is the original muse for modern treats such as American ice cream, custards and today’s froyo. With the zeal of American gelaterias like Ciao Gelato and Cold Spoons Gelato, as well as passion-driven ice cream retailers like OwowCow Creamery, it is no secret that the tradition of the “gelato experience” and the taste of perfected treats like America’s beloved ice cream will carry on for thousands of years, and beyond.
Cold Spoons Gelato
Brett Swider (BS)
Co-Owner
5924 West Vliet Street
Milwaukee, WI 53208
(414) 727-9457
www.coldspoonsgelato.com
JM: What inspired you to open a gelateria?
BS: I had my first sampling of gelato when on vacation in Rome and fell in love with it instantly. The flavors and texture of the gelatos had been haunting and could not be found in our area. And being in the land of custard, which we all know is a very heavy dessert, there was nothing available to fulfill that need.
JM: What do you think is the key to your success?
BS: The key to our success has been to not compromise ingredients, use only the best. If it isn’t good enough for our family, then it is not good enough for yours. Plus excellent customer service. Smiling friendly faces are a great precursor to a customer who is about to have an intense dessert experience.
JM: What are your best-selling flavors/flavor combinations?
BS: We have seen some pretty odd flavor combinations chosen by our customers that make us cringe a little. We try to help out picking good flavor marriages, but if it is what the customer likes, we
appease them. But by far our Caramel Sea Salt is very popular along with the Pink Grapefruit.
JM: If you could create any flavor, what would it be?
BS: There are countless flavors available, and we have only scratched the surface. We have heard of anchovy flavor and a dill pickle flavor to name a couple. We made a roasted garlic flavor that was a great novelty. But if we had to create a flavor, it would be an everlasting gobstopper. After every lick or spoonful, the flavor would change. Wouldn’t that be fun?
JM: How long have you been in business?
BS: We have been in business now for just over two years.
JM: How many stores/shops do you own?
BS: This is our only gelateria, but we would always like to expand and share our gelato in other parts of our area.
JM: What’s on your menu?
BS: Aside from our gelatos we offer coffee drinks, shakes, affogattos and a lighter drink called an “izzy freddo.” This is a combination of a sparkling fruit drink and a gelato. We also offer gelato cakes and gelato pies.
JM: Is gelato a passion?
BS: It is very exciting to see the expression on someone’s face who has never had gelato before, or to hear somebody reminisce about a vacation memory. To know that you have been a part of that experience is very powerful; how can you not be passionate about your product?
JM: What is the main thing you would want people to know about your business?
BS: Not only are we business partners and owner/ operators, we are next-door neighbors as well. We are vested in the business as well as the neighborhood and community.
JM: If you had a motto, what would it be?
BS: We really don’t have a motto or a slogan, but inspiration, determination and perspiration seems appropriate. People think it’s easy but there is a lot of hard work involved to make everything fluid.
JM: What are your goals? Would you like to franchise your business or expand your menu?
BS: Our goals are to continue to cultivate the business on both the retail and wholesale side. We will be expanding soon in Waukesha County to help better serve the needs of that area as well. We like having our product on some of the finest plates in the best restaurants that the Milwaukee area has to offer.
JM: What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far in business?
BS: Listen to what your customers want and make them feel special, as if they are your only one. Repeat business is great. But when they bring a friend to the place that they discovered, it makes that first customer feel like they are a part of your business too.
JM: What drives/inspires you?
BS: To hear and see the expression of our customers as they react to having our gelato is priceless. It keeps us striving for that ultimate customer satisfaction moment.
JM: Is your business active in your community? How so?
BS: We have ties to the community; we live and work here. We participate in local school and church events as well as national charitable events. We also host a gelato tour for a local preschool. The children learn the history of gelato, and help make, and eat it too.
JM: Do you have events at your shop? What kind?
BS: We sponsor the local neighborhood association events at our shop. In addition, we also hold birthday parties with the favorite flavors of the birthday person displayed in our cases.
JM: Is there an occurrence/business blooper you would most like to forget?
BS: N/A
JM: What do you think sets you apart from other gelaterias?
BS: We are not a franchise, nor absentee owners. We are not a “cookie cutter” type business that has no personality in its product. Our gelato cases are full of passion and personality, and that is a direct reflection of who we are.
JM: Number of staff?
BS: We employ up to 10 people during our peak season.
JM: How did you come up with the name for your business?
BS: We wanted to have a name that could be easily said and remembered. It is simple and can be said by the youngest of all.
JM: What is one of your most rewarding experiences/greatest success?
BS: Every day when we turn on the open sign, some way we will change somebody’s life that day when they have our gelato. The smiles and memories that our product sparks are the greatest success any business can ask for.
Ciao Gelato
Lynne Romeo (LR)
Co-Owner
700 Yampa Street Ste. 102A
Steamboat Springs, CO 80487
(970) 870-7979
JM: What inspired you to open a gelateria?
LR: A good family friend suggested that we open a gelateria. I told him he was crazy, and I didn’t know if it was possible to produce the same wonderful tastes that we had known in Italy. You see, Massimo, my husband, is Italian, and we lived in his home town for 15 years. We had seen gelato signs in the States, but it was too frozen, too hard and had no taste. We did think that a little shop in Steamboat Springs would be a great addition to the center of our town.
JM: What do you think is the key to your success?
LR: Genuine friendliness and the fact that Massimo is from Italy. We also love getting to know people and extending a warm welcome to them. We have been told time and again how warm and inviting our shop is and how people feel that they are part of a family when they come in.
JM: What are your best-selling flavors/flavor combinations?
LR: Dark Chocolate Sorbet along with the Forest Berry with Gran Stracciatella mixed in. We cannot keep the Dark Chocolate Sorbet in stock it is so popular. Right now, we are doing some seasonal flavors; Pumpkin Pie and Apple Pie along with the Cinnamon and Chocolate, which have become popular as well.
JM: If you could create any flavor, what would it be?
LR: I would love to create a blueberry cheesecake type of flavor. I love blueberries. They remind me of Italy when we would go mushroom and blueberry hunting in the mountains. I always managed to eat more blueberries than I brought home!
JM: How long have you been in business?
LR: We just celebrated our first year anniversary last week with a community party that we coupled with a fundraiser for a nonprofit organization here in Steamboat. We consider it a success, as we were able to feed 350 people and raised over $1,600.
JM: How many stores/shops do you own?
LR: We only have the one shop off of our center avenue in town.
JM: What’s on your menu?
LR: Along with the 18 flavors of gelato that we alternate, we also serve homemade pizza by the slice. We generally have 8 types of pizza available at any one time. We then serve Italian paninis and coffee drinks. My husband loves to bake, so we let him experiment with the pizzas. People seem to just love them.
JM: Is gelato a passion?
LR: We truly believe gelato is a passion. It is exciting to see the gelato coming out and tasting that first creamy bite. Massimo is very proud when he creates something and loves to show the new flavors off to our customers. It is part of the experience coming into our shop. The gelato is not made by just anyone; it comes from Massimo, and I believe our customers love knowing it is homemade.
JM: What is the main thing you would want people to know about your business?
LR: I would want people to know that they can come in for a chat. We get a lot of the local population who come into our shop, and I always make it a point of introducing people to one another. We love to create connections like that. It makes people feel at home because they always know someone in the shop. Our tourists then become friends as well, and the family grows.
JM: If you had a motto, what would it be?
LR: My motto would be to pay your good fortune ahead and to show a bit of kindness every day. We are blessed as a family, and I believe it is important to use the shop to help others.
JM: What are your goals? Would you like to franchise your business or expand your menu?
LR: Right now, our goals are to grow our shop. I would love to take the empty space next door and have more room for another gelato display case. I would love to add gelato cakes and more flavors. I would also like to have some room for a small Italian deli in order to be able to sell a few more Italian products. Who knows? Stranger things that that have happened!
JM: What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far in business?
LR: Keep better control of inventory and to be a bit more creative in using what you have. Because we are a tourist town, we have big swings from season to season. These months of October and November are, of course, our slowest season. The weather is no longer nice but we can’t really ski yet so we really have to watch what we can spend. Inventory control is of great importance right now.
JM: What drives/inspires you?
LR: Knowing that something interesting will happen every day. It is funny to think you are just serving people pizza, paninis and gelato, but it is incredible how different each day can be. There is such an interaction with our customers that something good or poignant happens every day.
JM: Is your business active in your community? How so?
LR: Our business is very active in our community. We believe strongly in a three-prong approach to our business. One: We need to make a living as a family. Two: We have a commitment to help the children in our local community and host different fundraisers to help give back to the community. Third: Our world is bigger than Steamboat, so we support some international groups that help in disadvantaged countries.
JM: Do you have events at your shop?
What kind?
LR: We have had so many different events at our shop – art shows from school children, professional artists and music events from high school bands to a classical duet with a cello and flute. We have parties for fundraisers that have been loads of fun. Then the birthday parties are always fun to host. The kids get so excited.
JM: Is there an occurrence/business blooper you would most like to forget?
LR: When we thought we could open at noon on our first day. There was such a buzz in town about a “real gelato shop” that we had a line by 10:00 a.m. We decided to open then, but it was a bit of a disaster. We just had too many people coming in. I told them we needed a few more hours to prepare, and I had to lock the door. That was just awful but everyone came back a few hours later. They have been coming back ever since.
JM: What do you think sets you apart from other gelaterias?
LR: In Steamboat, it is not difficult. There are no gelaterias in a three-hour range, but I believe we are different given our wonderful quality and choice of flavors, thanks to PreGel; and our authentic Italian friendliness sets us apart. People keep telling us how our gelato is better than any they even had in Italy! Thanks, PreGel!
JM: Number of staff?
LR: In the summer, we had 10 employees. Right now, we have the four of us in our family. Our two sons who are in high school help on weekends, and we have three other part-time employees.
JM: How did you come up with the name for your business?
LR: We were trying to be clever and couldn’t come up with anything we liked. Our partner, Diana, suggested that everyone knows the word “Ciao” in Italian. We thought we could have people say it coming and going, and that is what happened. For the longest time, we were just known as the “Gelato Place,” but now, the name has definitely caught on.
JM: What is one of your most rewarding experiences/greatest success?
LR: Our most rewarding experiences happen every day when people taste our gelato. They put the spoons in their mouths, I mentally count to three, and then their eyes just get big and pop as the flavor hits them. It still gives me a thrill to see that. Our greatest successes have been our two big fundraisers, one for the center in Uganda and the other for one of our own local nonprofits. To know that we were able to get our community together over pizza and gelato to raise money that will go toward helping others really warms my heart and makes all the work that goes into having the shop worthwhile.
OwowCow Creamery
John Fezzuoglio (JF)
Owner
4105 Durham Road
Ottsville, PA 18942
(610) 847-7070
www.owowcow.com
JM: What inspired you to open an ice cream business?
JF: A desire to connect my personal interests and values to a small community business. I was also drawn to the immersive nature of artisan crafting, very much in keeping with Old World European tradition.
JM: What do you think is the key to your success?
JF: An absolute commitment to local and select global ingredients. Authenticity and accessibility have served to create a level of community/customer support that I am still awed, inspired and grateful for.
JM: What is your best selling flavors/flavor combinations/menu item?
JF: Our customers love the fact that we offer 3 vanillas: Madagascar, Tahitian and Indonesian. Forest Berry with fresh raspberries, blueberries and strawberries, along with Cashew Caramel and our local Roasted Espresso Bean are must-haves. Our seasonal flavors might include Sweet Potato Wasabi, Butternut Squash with a Bourbon Pecan Swirl, Eggnog, Cannoli Cream and Bailey’s Irish Cream with Dark Chocolate Shavings.
JM:If you could create any flavor, what would it be?
JF: The joy of hand crafting and exploring continually challenges me to consider “what’s next?” Whatever it is, it must surprise and delight.
JM:How long have you been in business?
JF: We are approaching our third season.
JM: How many stores/shops do you own?
JF: One at this time. We are a community-driven business, so when the right situation emerges, we will consider another shop.
JM: What’s on your menu?
JF: Our focus is in crafting the best small batches of ice cream and less so on novelties. We do the traditional sundaes, shakes, floats and ice cream sandwiches. We make our own fruit, nut and other toppings, along with our organic hand-whipped cream and organic flavored sugar syrups.
JM: Is making ice cream/frozen desserts a passion?
JF: Passionate, grateful and privileged to spend each day working, learning and sharing what you create is a great blessing.
JM: What is the main thing you would want people to know about your business?
JF: That OwowCow is passion-driven, committed to supporting local, small family farms and offering the community an authentic hand-crafted ice cream.
JM: If you had a motto, what would it be?
JF: Honor your principles.
JM: What are your goals? Would you like to franchise your business or expand your menu?
JF: Nurture our success; avoid complacency; remain committed to crafting amazing products, customer experience and expanding our partnership with small family farms.
JM: What is the biggest lesson you’ve learned so far in business?
JF: That with essentially zero dollars in advertising, we realized a 38% increase in sales our second year.
JM: What drives/inspires you?
JF: I am continually inspired by our customers’ passionate support and driven never to disappoint.
JM: Is your business active in your community? How so?
JF: Absolutely! We support local open-space conservancy, the arts community, food drives as well as local sport and academic teams.
JM: Do you have events at your shop? What kind?
JF: No, just too busy to plan for anything like that.
JM: Is there an occurrence/business blooper you would most like to forget?
JF: No.
JM: What do you think sets you apart from other ice cream retails?
JF: Our use of only local, single-sourced, organic cream, free-range eggs and other local ingredients like honey, fruits and berries.
JM: Number of staff?
JF: 8–18 on average from winter through summer.
JM: How did you come up with the name for your business?
JF: Just kinda popped into my head.
JM: What is one of your most rewarding experiences/greatest success?
JF: Many customers are generous in expressing the love of our ice cream, but when customers come to me and say, “We’re so happy you’re here,” that never ceases to amaze me. It reminds me of our responsibility to each individual customer and the community as a whole.