Weve been talking so much business lately,  I thought it was about time to really dig into our ice cream a bit.  I am so excited to tell you all about the flavors were working on and let you know what you can expect when we are fully operational!  All that good stuff is coming very soon.  But I think its best to start at the beginning…fundamentals, right?

Back when I began to seriously consider opening this business, I knew one thing: I wanted to make ice cream from scratch.  Seems like a no-brainer, right?  I thought so.  But as I began researching, I realized that the truth of the matter is that the vast majority of ice cream shops/sellers in the US dont make their own base mix.  Most purchase a mix from a dairy or supplier that is comprised of some combination of milk, cream, sugar, and depending on the destination, stabilizers and/or emulsifiers.  It can then be flavored it,  frozen, and sold.  I had seen this in my own experience working in the ice cream business, but I had no idea how rare a made on-site ice cream establishment really was.   I assure you, Im not knocking this model there are plenty of really great bases available, as evidenced by some of these fantastic businesses.  There are even dairies out there that will create custom bases for  certain customers, tailoring them to fit a particular brand or style.  But, being the control freak that I am,  I knew it would be really important to me that we make our own in-house.

For example, when making a caramel ice cream, if youre working with a standard mix, adjustments cannot be made to that base.  Caramel is made of, among other things, sugar and cream.  So in making the ice cream this way, wed essentially be adding sugar and cream to a base that already has sugar and cream.   At Hay Rosie, our ice creams are formulated across the board to have a low relative sweetness level in order to give other flavors the floor.  By making our own base in-house, when I make a caramel ice cream I have the ability to adjust sugar levels in the base so that the finished product is consistent with the sweetness level applied to all of our ice creams.  Making our own base allows me the flexibility to change up those formulas, to construct each ice cream the way that I imagine it to be, and to allow them to evolve as necessary.

So the decision was a simple one, but execution was another story.  Making our own base requires that we pasteurize the mix and therein lies the challenge.   I found myself actually being advised at every turn by industry folks and educators that this was a nearly impossible model given the financial and regulatory challenges associated.  In recent years,  however, Ive been lucky enough to visit some super successful businesses right here in New York and around the country who have chosen this road; for me the proof was in their wonderful products.

A Batch Pasteurizer, similar to what we will have at Hay Rosie

In order to do this we actually need to become a Dairy Plant as recognized by the state of New York, which means purchasing a pasteurizer and being licensed through the NY State Dept of Agriculture. Turns out that when I said I wanted to make ice cream, what I meant was that I wanted to become a Dairy Processing Plant Superintendent!  I found a really great family-run business that actually manufactures pasteurizers for small-scale dairies and theyre in the process of building our system.

A rendering of the Hay Rosie batch pasteurizing system.

The point to this story is that at Hay Rosie, our process will vary a little for each flavor, and that is information that is really important to keep in mind when we start talking about all the fantastic combinations weve been working on.

Now that weve got a little background down on our process, stay tuned to read about how were applying that system in crafting each of our scratch-made ice creams!

Stef

Today is Day 2 of our Indiegogo campaign, and we have had an incredible response so far!  I am so amazed-slash-grateful for all the support both monetary and moral.  You guys are so awesome!

The campaign has 29 days left, so you can definitely expect to see regular updates here for the duration.   As mentioned, the funds from the campaign would be applied to a Tasting Room on site at our facility.  It would give us a place to hang out and eat lots of ice cream, which lets be honest kind of a dream.  It certainly is mine!

You can visit our the campaign here: http://igg.me/at/hayrosie/x/5923409

Sharing is hugely appreciated!  I want to say thanks to all of you for making this more exciting every single day

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!

BESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswyBESbswy

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