Graeter's

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Graeter's
Type Restaurant
Founded Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S. (1870)
Founder Louis C. Graeter
Headquarters Cincinnati, Ohio, U.S.
No. of locations 48 stores (2008)
Area served Greater Cincinnati and surrounding areas.
Key people Louis C. Graeter (Founder)
Chip Graeter, Bob Graeter, and Richard Graeter (Owners)
Industry Restaurant
Products Ice Cream, Pastries, Candies, and much more.
Revenue ▲ US$60,000,000
Website graeters.com

Graeter's is a local chain of ice cream bakery and candy shops which originated in Cincinnati, Ohio in 1870. Their premium, thick ice cream has been featured on Food Network, and has earned them many dedicated fans including Oprah Winfrey. Their signature flavor is Black Raspberry Chip. They also have hand made pastries, coffee cakes, and danish, as well as breads and cakes.

Contents

[edit] "French pot" process

Graeter's ice cream is made in a French pot process. The ice cream mix is placed into a chilled, spinning French pot. As the liquid freezes, a worker scrapes down the sides of the pot with a blade. For flavors that include chocolate chips, liquid chocolate is poured into the pot, and freezes into a thin shell on top of the ice cream. A worker uses a blade to break up this shell and mix it into the ice cream, resulting in Graeter's' famous huge dark chocolate chips.

Each batch of ice cream is only about two gallons and is thus very labor intensive. The resulting ice cream is so thick that it must be hand-packed into pints. The pints are sold at Graeter's stores, and at Kroger grocery stores, also a Cincinnati-based company. Because of the small batches and high amount of labor involved, Graeter's pints are more expensive than other brands of premium ice cream, such as Ben & Jerry's and Häagen-Dazs.

In an article on the ice cream industry, The New York Times pointed out that for reasons of chemistry not yet understood, ice cream made in small batches is far superior in taste to factory-made premium brands like Häagen-Dazs or Ben & Jerry's. This article went on to say that “...the ice cream most connoisseurs feel to be the best in the world, Graeter’s of Cincinnati, is made in two gallon batches."[1] Like most super-premium ice creams, Graeter’s has a high butter fat content, between 16 and 18%. On her show in July, 2002, Oprah Winfrey said: "You haven't had ice cream till you've had Graeter's. The butter pecan is Stedman's favorite, and mine, too." The company was then overwhelmed with phone and Internet orders.

Graeter's stores also receive ice cream in two-gallon tubs, which they scoop to make ice cream cones, ice cream sodas, and milkshakes. Usually, ice cream sold in the stores will be only a few hours old. Graeter's also sells its ice cream online, and offers fresh baked-goods and hand-dipped chocolate.

[edit] Graeter's locations

Graeter's has stores located around Cincinnati, Columbus, and Dayton in Ohio, and around Lexington, Louisville, and Northern Kentucky. A shop opened in the Kings Island amusement park in 2005. There are three Franchisees, each of which makes the ice cream in local plants. These serve the stores in Columbus/Dayton, Louisville, and Lexington/Northern Kentucky, respectively.

In 2004 Graeter's began selling its ice cream at LaRosa's, a local pizzeria, in a small personal size. Three flavors are available in the dining room, for pickup, or for delivery.

Graeter's opened its second Newport, Kentucky retail outlet on August 3, 2007. The 1,800 square foot location at 342 Monmouth St., at the corner of Fourth and Monmouth in the Historic James Taylor Jr. Bank Building, is one block from Newport on the Levee. This is Graeter's second retail outlet in Newport.[1].

On October 15, 2007, Graeter's returned to its historic roots in Downtown Cincinnati when it opened a new store on Fountain Square in the heart of the city.

[edit] List of Graeter's flavors

[edit] References

  1. ^ Really: best ice cream on the planet 20 July 2005 on-line review

[edit] External links