| Type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Retail |
| Fate | Chapter 11 bankruptcy |
| Founded | Lexington, Kentucky (1995) |
| Headquarters | Paducah, Kentucky, U.S. |
| Products | Ice cream |
| Website | dippindots.com |
Dippin' Dots is an ice cream snack, invented by Southern Illinois University Carbondale graduate Curt Jones in 1987.[1] The confection is created by flash freezing ice cream mix in liquid nitrogen.[2] The marketing slogan is "Ice Cream of the Future". The snack is made by Dippin' Dots, Inc., headquartered in Paducah, Kentucky.[3] In 2011 the company has reported revenues of $27.7 million, beating the previous year of $26.7 million.[4]
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The company is headquartered in Paducah, Kentucky.[4] Because the product requires storage at temperatures below −40 °F (−40 °C), it is not sold in grocery stores, which cannot provide such extreme cooling requirements.[5] Dippin' Dots are sold in individual servings at franchised outlets, many in stadiums, shopping malls, and in vending machines. Theme parks such as Schlitterbahn, Six Flags, Cedar Fair, PARC Management, Kennywood, SeaWorld, stadiums and arenas also sell Dippin' Dots. The ice cream is sold over the Internet for delivery to homes and businesses through retail grocery chain Kroger only.
In 1992, Dippin' Dots acquired a patent on its ice cream and, in 1996, sued its main competitor, Mini Melts for infringement. In 2007, the Court ruled that Dippin’ Dots because the process of creating the ice cream was "obvious" rather than proprietary, and ruled the patent unenforceable because Dippin Dots had sold the product commercially for over a year before applying for the patent.[6][7]
On December 19, 2008, the company announced that it was exploring the option of combining resources with another, unknown company. The spokesperson for the company stated "Dippin' Dots will continue to take orders and ship product as we have for the past twenty years".[8]
On November 4, 2011, the company filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection.[9] Dippin' Dots states that it was due to a failure to reach an agreement with their lender, Regions Bank after attempts to do so. However, Regions Bank, according to the New York Times, has been trying to foreclose on Dippin' Dots for over a year.[4]
The Dippin' Dots Franchising, Inc. brand earned rank 112 and then 175 on the Entrepreneur "Franchise 500" in 2008 and 2009, respectively. [10]
Dippin' Dots has sponsored the "Celebrity Grand Slam Paddle Jam" celebrity ping pong tournament in Hollywood, whose proceeds benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in Memphis, Tennessee.[11]
The company is a contributor to the charity Give Kids the World Village in Kissimmee, Florida.[12]
The ice cream has been featured on The Oprah Winfrey Show, Food TV, The Travel Channel, and on an episode of Gene Simmons Family Jewels on A&E Network.
The show Modern Marvels included Dippin' Dots in their segment on the history and future of ice cream.
Dippin' Dots collaborated with Warner Bros. to create a tie-in contest for the 2008 feature film Journey to the Center of the Earth, awarding the winner a trip to Iceland, the location of the film.
In November 2011, Dippin' Dots was featured on Todd Wilbur's food show Top Secret Recipe.
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