Velvet Ice Cream has just opened the largest expansion capital improvement in the company’s storied 102-year history. Velvet broke ground on a new 23,000-square-foot expansion, with price tag of more than $3 million, last August. The expansion added a new state-of-the-art warehouse freezer distribution facility to Velvet Ice Cream’s central Ohio plant at Ye Olde Mill in Utica, more than doubling the company’s freezing and picking capacity. On the heels of significant expansion into the Kentucky and other markets, demand for Velvet Ice Cream has grown, taking the company from $25 million in revenue in 2009 to more than $30 million in 2014. As a result, last summer, Velvet was nearly at capacity with its former distribution facility.
“Our expansion allows us to improve sustainability, sharpen efficiencies and produce more delicious Velvet Ice Cream in order to meet increased demand,” said Velvet Ice Cream President Luconda Dager. “But it also positions us well for future growth and expansion.”
Dager helped the more than 100 attendees at the expansion ribbon cutting to better understand the project’s size, sharing the following details on the new facility:
- The new freezer distribution addition keeps Velvet Ice Cream at 20 degrees below zero
- It holds 3,200,000 cartons of Velvet Ice Cream
- That would fill 80 tractor trailers with Velvet product
- That’s equal to 1,920 pallets
- The Velvet Freezer team walks a quarter of a mile for every order they pick
- In one year of work, that’s like walking from Utica to Las Vegas and back
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Velvet Ice Cream worked with the Licking County, Ohio firm Robertson Construction as general contractor for the project, which took 14 months to complete. Currently employing a staff of 125, Velvet’s new distribution facility initially will require the addition of eight new employees in its picking and shipping operations. However, the development enables the company further to expand production as new accounts are acquired, which is expected to increase future employment. The project also uses the latest green technology, minimizing the company’s environmental footprint via environmentally friendly design, motion-controlled energy efficient lighting, state-of-the-art insulating panels and high-speed automated doors.
Dager added that thanks to the support of tax abatement from North Fork Local School District and Velvet’s partners at People’s Bank and Freije-RSC Engineered Solutions Company, the expansion makes it possible for the company to not only continue serving existing customers, but also enter new markets and forge new partnerships, like those Velvet already has with major retailers and other food service partners.
This year, Velvet Ice Cream celebrates 102 years of making ice cream in Ohio. Founded in 1914 by Joseph Dager, four generations of Dager family have since run the company. Still family-owned and operated, Velvet produces and distributes more than 5 million gallons of ice cream every year from its headquarters on the grounds of Ye Olde Mill. Ye Olde Mill also houses an ice cream and milling museum, a restaurant, playground, picnic area and catch-and-release fish pond.
Named by Frommer’s as one of America’s 10 Best Ice Cream Factory Tours, Velvet’s Ye Olde Mill welcomes 150,000 visitors each year for tours, tastings and events. The annual Ice Cream Festival, group tour experiences and school learning field trips are among the many draws to Ye Olde Mill, which is open to the public April 20-October 31. Complete information about Velvet Ice Cream and Ye Olde Mill is available www.VelvetIceCream.com on Twitter at @VelvetIceCream or Facebook.com/VelvetIceCream.
The black rind was part of cheesemaker Liam Callahan’s original inspiration for the cheese, he said. “There aren’t that many aged cheeses that have a rind that actively contributes interesting flavor notes to it. It’s more common for washed-rind cheeses, but with aged cheeses, it’s just protecting it from the environment,” he said. “For this cheese, the rind is more than something to nibble up to and throw away, more than a board-flavored musty component. The rosemary doesn’t taste of rosemary, but it helps give a savory element to the rind. Plus, it looks cool. As soon as you put it out there, people say ‘What’s that?’ They are drawn to the look of the cheese.”
Non-dairy lovers can now indulge in the creamy decadence, as well! Made with organic ingredients completely free of GMOs, preservatives, colors, additives, or artificial sweeteners, Rigoni di Asiago’s Nocciolata Dairy Free combines hazelnuts, cocoa and cocoa butter, natural vanilla extract and raw cane sugar for a chocolate-hazelnut spread with undeniably superior flavor and smooth texture.