When I first started working on what would become Hay Rosie, I labored over the different ways to run an ice cream business and which model would be best suited for our particular vision.  We’d passed around the idea of a retail business at length, but ultimately I really wanted to focus on making the best product possible and getting it out into the world via wholesale business and shipping directly to your homes.

Since announcing the company though, we’ve had tons of friendly folks ask when they’ll be able to stop by and taste our ice cream.  It got me thinking about how fun it would be if we could open up our doors for a few days a week and let people come right into our production facility to taste the ice cream, much like many wineries or the craft breweries with whom I’ve worked in the past.

It would be a spot where people could visit us and watch the ice cream being crafted from scratch, where they can sample fresh flavors via tasting flights or by the scoop, and pick up a pint (or a few…) to take home with them.  The more I imagined it, the more it sounded like a place that I would definitely want to go.

We knew if we really wanted to do it and do it right, wed need your help to make it happen!  So with that in mind, we decided to launch an Indiegogo campaign, and it starts…get ready for it…

Tomorrow.

The campaign funds will go directly to helping us prepare a Tasting Room on-site at our facility, and to thank you for your support we have some really fun perks ready to go!  Some rewards will be available in limited quantities, so we wanted to give y’all a heads up on the launch.

How you can help:

• Check out the campaign, donate if you can, and snag yourself a great perk.
• Share!  We need to get the word out to the world, and we can’t do it without you. 

We hope you’ll take a few minutes to check out our campaign and help us spread the word!

I want to say thanks so much in advance for the already incredible support of Hay Rosie Craft Ice Cream Company.  I really cannot wait to start sharing our creations, and hope to meet you all over a cone or two very soon.

Cheers!

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Stef

As promised, our new logos are ready to share, and Im beside myself with excitement to unveil our new look!

At the beginning of this process, I knew that creating a brand that really reflected our mission was going to be critical.  I was so apprehensive about putting this baby into someone elses hands being aware of how important our identity would be as a new business.

Dozens of design teams were researched and scouted, and ultimately we decided to go with Studio Nudge.  There was something about them and the way they really got our company in the very first conversation.  It didnt hurt that they were self-identified ice cream fanatics.

The team at Nudge has been so great to work with efficient, responsive, intuitive, and they managed to decipher all the little details that I didnt quite know how to articulate.  Overall its just been a total blast to work together.

So fast forward a few months, and were finally ready to share with the world what weve been working hard on with the good folks over at Nudge.  I think they really captured the spirit of Hay Rosie Craft Ice Cream Company, and I am thrilled to have a visual for what weve been dreaming up for so long.

Theres lots more news to share with you soon, but in the meantime heres a few snapshots of the look youll be seeing from us.  We hope you love them as much as we do!

Its been busy here at headquarters, but I wanted to check in and keep you posted on our progress!

A couple of new and exciting things since we last spoke; I am beyond excited to have our logos and branding almost complete.  Its something thats been in the works for a few months now, and I really, really, really love what has been developed by Studio Nudge.  Cant wait to share

Weve also officially ordered the engine of our business an Emery Thompson Batch Freezer.  This is the purchase Ive dreamt about whenever Ive thought about starting an ice cream business.  That big, shiny piece of equipment from which our freshly churned ice creams will come.  Its the heartbeat of Hay Rosie, and I cant wait to have her up and running.

This week we also had our first meeting with the NY State Dept of Agriculture.  They will be the regulatory agency for our space since were making our ice cream from scratch and will be pasteurizing our own base on-site.  The inspectors were great, and were really excited to be moving forward through the process.

The construction is moving along, and I was astounded at how exciting it can be to have walls!  I think the space is coming together really nicely, and I am starting to be able to see it as the home of our business instead of just the lines I drew on square paper over and over (and over and over).  I cant wait for yall to see it!

Thats about it for tonight, but plenty more coming soon!  Thanks for stopping by

Stef

Going straight to the source my new friend!

When I set out to do this, I knew Id have some learning to do.  Ive made hundreds of at-home batches (first on the ubiquitous Cuisinart freezer-bowl machine, and then on the commercial counter-top batch freezer in which I invested for our little Brooklyn kitchen last year) and had some commercial experience (making ice cream for a scoop shop in Connecticut), but I know that ice cream like any food is an complex science.  Its also a particularly delicate product, sensitive to the slightest changes in formula, temperature, and composition.  It relies upon precision, subtlety, and very specific sets of principles that become exponentially more important at a commercial level.

Location, location, location.  This is the resounding mantra when it comes to business.  As it should be location is critical, of course.

And in New York, there are additional layers of city-centered nonsense and necessity:  foot traffic, steps to subway (count em), potential parking, whether the building facade appears as if it might crumble with a strong wind (or the next pass of a semi on the BQE), if the neighborhood happens to be up and coming (they all are, according to your broker).