The Ice Cream of the Future Continues to Grow into Its Future

The preventive and risk-based focus of FSMA is moving the food industry from being reactive to being proactive in food safety. But, said Vice President of Operations and Development Stan Jones (above), “I think the dairy industry, particularly ice cream, was already going through self-policing.” However, along with FSMA adaptation is a general industry conversion to GFSI and its generally accepted programs of SQF, BRC, and ISO. “That’s what we’re gearing up for and, for the last three years, have been working on getting our SQF rating,” he said. 

Jones sees the industry conversion as being of benefit to the market, but less so as a means of improving food safety and quality assurance standards in the dairy segment, “because we are already doing those things.” At Dippin’ Dots, this stems, at least in part, from Founder and CEO Curt Jones’ background in microbiology and food safety.

One area in which this has had significant impact is pasteurization. Going above industry standards, Dippin’ Dots dairy ingredients are pasteurized twice—requiring it of its suppliers, then pasteurizing again at the plant. “We have a very clean product, and we make sure everything meets our high quality assurance standards,” Curt Jones said.

Not only are quality and safety key Dippin’ Dots values, but having sold into Japan’s quality-focused culture since 1994, the company has had to maintain a strong quality focus to meet its customers’ standards. In fact, based on that experience and expertise, Dippin’ Dots has been providing assistance to USDA in its development of standards.

Since the QA Cover Profile on Dippin’ Dots in  May 2006, the company has employed a full-time HACCP coordinator and continually increased its quality assurance staff to increase time on the floor monitoring production; installed tracking software for ATP swabbing to validate cleaning and sanitation; and implemented staff training programs on sanitation, cleanliness, and healthiness, both at the plant and in their homes.

Although the company had filed for Chapter 11 reorganization in 2011, it was able to restructure under new ownership and is now not only celebrating its 25th anniversary, but also announced a $3.1 million modernization and renovation at its 120,000 square-foot Paducah, Ky., manufacturing facility. One renovation of which is the conversion of its freezer system from Freon to a green system using ammonia and carbon dioxide. “It is the only natural refrigerant known to man,” Stan Jones said.

The Future.
True to its original slogan, “The ice cream of the future,” Dippin’ Dots continues to invest in its future, expanding its product line to include yogurt and sorbet, and a new product—Dippin’ Dots Dunks, originally called Fridgets, developed by Curt Jones. Clusters of dots are “dunked” in chocolate which then forms a hard-shell coating. Previously the Dunks could be made at the company’s kiosk, store, and entertainment venues, but last year, they began to be manufactured in three flavors at the plant and are being tested in a handful of locations.

The company is also testing grab-and-go sales within pharmacy and convenience store locations. The product cannot be run through standard ice cream channels, because it has to stay at a temperature of -40F to retain its beaded quality, so the company provides the freezers to retail shops to help ensure quality is retained.

In answer to whether consumers will ever be able to purchase a take-home Dippin’ Dots product, Stan Jones said the company is working on a beaded/conventional ice cream crossover product, which it hopes to put out for retail take-home sales in the future.

While expanding its manufacturing and product lines, the company is taking a very aggressive approach to international expansion, he said. In 2013 alone, it opened in Russia and Greece, is signing with Costa Rica, and working on potential opportunities in Brazil. “It seems a good time to do it,” Stan Jones said. “We’ve had a lot of interest and people trying to attain agreements with us. We’re always interested, but now it seems that we are all ready at the same time.”