For Velvet Ice Cream, more space doesn’t just mean more cartons. It also means more options.
More cold, creamy options crammed full of new ingredients and new ideas.
Velvet Ice Cream | Licking County | Central Ohio | Columbus | Ice Cream | Columbus Food
Photos courtesy of Velvet Ice Cream
Expansion has been a hot conversation topic at the company’s Licking County headquarters, and now that it’s underway, it will allow the century-old family business to keep up with growth demands – while, fans will be happy to learn, producing new flavors.
The 22,000-square-foot expansion of the Utica facility is mostly a new freezer and a distribution office, with a new space for shipping and receiving products. The primary goal, President Luconda Dager says, is to expand current freezer storage space. Right now, the company has plenty of room to manufacture its products – but not enough space to store them.
In other words, Velvet is more than equipped to handle growing business demands. Its campus just needs to grow, too.
“This gives us ample space for the future,” Dager says.
About 70 trailer loads of ice cream will be able to fit in the new freezer. The building itself will be attached to the rest of the facility with a breezeway that will help move product in and out.
A mild winter has kept construction on target for a late June completion.
“It totally changes the whole landscape of the campus,” Dager says. It will be the campus’ seventh building. “It really shows our growth over the first 100 years. Being an independent, family-owned business, we grow more in stages and take baby steps.”
Velvet turns 102 this year. In 1914, the company began with only three flavors: the holy trinity of chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Dager says Velvet strikes a balance between sticking to tradition while also looking to the future.
“Our business is wrapped around tradition and heritage,” she says. “We’re making sure we’re treating our customers and associates like family. That’s part of our legacy. That’s our culture.”
Velvet Ice Cream | Licking County | Ohio | Central Ohio | Columbus Ohio | Ice Cream | Velvet
Over the last five years, Dager says, the company has grown into new markets, including Indiana and, in 2015, Kentucky. The expansion, which broke ground in September, will not only be the company’s largest expansion, but the most expensive at roughly $3 million.
And, with room to store, there’s room to expand Velvet’s flavor offerings.
“We’ve been sticking to more of our core product,” says Nathan Arnold, marketing manager. “Now, we’ll be able to produce small runs of specialty flavors, limited edition flavors, and also keep up with the demand for seasonal flavors. That’s really what keeps ice cream alive and fun.”
Some of these flavors include banana cream pie in the summertime and gingerbread during the holidays.
Velvet’s new gelato cups hit the market at the end of March, with vanilla bean, espresso, double dark chocolate and salty caramel flavors. Arnold says Velvet hopes to expand the line in the future. It’s the first non-ice cream product Velvet has ever produced.
There’s also a strong demand for an elephant ear flavor – creamy vanilla ice cream swirled with caramel and cinnamon and sugar-coated elephant ear dough pieces – which Velvet offered at the 2015 Ohio State Fair. Velvet has plans to produce the flavor for retail, Arnold says. A s’more flavor is also on the horizon.
Velvet currently has about 70 different flavors, with recipes for close to 500.
Hannah Bealer is an editor. Feedback welcome at gbishop@cityscenemediagroup.com.
Ye Olde Mill Gift Shop, Museum and Restaurant
*Ye Olde Mill opens for ice cream April 11 and opens for the season April 18
April: 11 a.m.-6 p.m.
May: 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
June, July, August: 11 a.m.-8 p.m.
September: 11 a.m.-7 p.m.
October: 11 a.m.-5 p.m.
The Utica Sertoma Ice Cream Festival is set for May 28-30 this year. The kids’ play area will be expanded with more bounce houses and arts and crafts. Plenty of traditions will continue on, including the celebrity ice cream eating contest, which challenges local celebrities to finish 2-3 pints of ice cream in less than two and a half minutes. The Columbus Zoo and Aquarium will also have an animal exhibit.
The event is hosted on the grounds of Velvet Ice Cream and the Electric Cooperative. Parking is $5.
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