Ishita Nigam
8 Sept 2023
Oprah called the Ample Hills Creamery one of her favourite things. Disney signed it as its official ice cream brand for Star Wars and Mickey Mouse's 90th birthday. But they made one mistake and went bankrupt in 2020.
‘God Save the Cream’ flavour combining elderflower cake, lemon-ginger ice cream, and buttercream frosting.
Mixing pecan pie and Sufganiyah jelly donuts in ‘Thanksgivukkah’.
Salted chocolate and brownie-flavoured ‘It Came From Gowanus’ touted as the #1 ice cream in the US by The Food Network.
Launched in 2010, the married duo of Brian Smith and Jackie Cuscuna raked in $1 million from their first store and $1.4 million from the second. Things were flying up until they signed the deal with Disney. To match the demand, they built an ice cream factory in Brooklyn’s expensive neighbourhood, the Red Hook.
Too many borrowings, a $20 million loan to fund their expansion, and many wrong hires triggered their downfall. Their sales couldn’t help them break even. In 2020, America’s new favourite ice cream brand filed for bankruptcy.
Learning from mistakes, they started a now successful business, Social, in 2021.
Full report here.
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