~
~WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM
How Much for Ice Cream??
EMILY EISENBERG, who lives in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, said she let her young sons talk her into trying a new scoop shop, Gelato Bar, in nearby Los Feliz in June. It is the kind of place that describes its ice cream as “premium and handmade,” the mix-ins are from local artisans and farmers, and the prices are accordingly high. For two small servings, she paid more than $10, and walked out vowing never to return.
“Since when is ice cream so expensive?” she said. For Ms. Eisenberg, and others, this has been the summer of ice cream sticker shock.
In Boston and Beverly Hills, not surprisingly, but also in Columbus, Ohio, and Arroyo Seco, N.M., a small cone or cup now often costs more than $4 — and that’s without the toppings of organic whipped cream, sustainable strawberries and French bittersweet chocolate chunks that also command dizzying prices.
The owners of high-end scoop shops say that most customers don’t blink. “It’s still an affordable luxury,” said Sarah Bonkowski, a manager for Capogiro, a chain of gelato shops in Philadelphia. “People understand that things done by hand cost more.”
But is there any good reason for ice cream — basically milk, sugar and eggs — to cost more per ounce than wild Atlantic smoked salmon or prime rib-eye?
Stefano Ciravegna, the manager of two Grom gelaterias in Manhattan, has many answers to this question. Grom serves what may be America’s most expensive ice cream cone: $5.25, with tax, for a “small,” which works out to about $150 a pound. Grom, which has more than 20 stores in Italy, was founded in 2003 in Turin, the birthplace of the Slow Food movement. Slow Food’s commitment to preserving the pre-industrial ways of making food provided Grom with a mission: to recreate the traditional ice creams of the region, which is known for dairy, nuts and chocolate, and especially for the chocolate-hazelnut combination gianduja.
“We do not do crazy funky flavors, but each one is the best,” Mr. Ciravegna said.
The company imports flavorings from small farmers around the world — pistachios from Syria, coffee from Guatemala, chocolate from Colombia — and now grows many ingredients on its organic farm outside Turin, where its sole factory is also located. (The mixtures are shipped frozen to Grom outlets all over Italy and in Tokyo and Paris as well as New York, and churned in each store.)
...
And the profit on packaged pints is nothing compared with the markup at the scoop shop.
“I only make a dollar on each pint I sell at Whole Foods,” Mr. Van Leeuwen said, but a single serving from the truck yields about $2.50 in profit.
Whether a particular cup of frozen delight is truly worth the price is, of course, a decision that only the market can make.
“The meaning of ‘premium’ now is very different from what it was when Häagen-Dazs came out,” said Robin Davis, food editor of The Columbus Dispatch and the author of a recent history of Graeter’s, a Cincinnati ice cream institution.
At the time, she said, all-natural ingredients and high fat content were enough to impart prestige and command a high price.
YOU CAN GET THE WHOLE SCOOP HERE.
The full article states:
"America’s most expensive ice cream ... about $20 a pound."
I wonder how snus compares pricewise?
(At least snus is fat-free.)
~WE ALL SCREAM FOR ICE CREAM
How Much for Ice Cream??
EMILY EISENBERG, who lives in the Eagle Rock neighborhood of Los Angeles, said she let her young sons talk her into trying a new scoop shop, Gelato Bar, in nearby Los Feliz in June. It is the kind of place that describes its ice cream as “premium and handmade,” the mix-ins are from local artisans and farmers, and the prices are accordingly high. For two small servings, she paid more than $10, and walked out vowing never to return.
“Since when is ice cream so expensive?” she said. For Ms. Eisenberg, and others, this has been the summer of ice cream sticker shock.
In Boston and Beverly Hills, not surprisingly, but also in Columbus, Ohio, and Arroyo Seco, N.M., a small cone or cup now often costs more than $4 — and that’s without the toppings of organic whipped cream, sustainable strawberries and French bittersweet chocolate chunks that also command dizzying prices.
The owners of high-end scoop shops say that most customers don’t blink. “It’s still an affordable luxury,” said Sarah Bonkowski, a manager for Capogiro, a chain of gelato shops in Philadelphia. “People understand that things done by hand cost more.”
But is there any good reason for ice cream — basically milk, sugar and eggs — to cost more per ounce than wild Atlantic smoked salmon or prime rib-eye?
Stefano Ciravegna, the manager of two Grom gelaterias in Manhattan, has many answers to this question. Grom serves what may be America’s most expensive ice cream cone: $5.25, with tax, for a “small,” which works out to about $150 a pound. Grom, which has more than 20 stores in Italy, was founded in 2003 in Turin, the birthplace of the Slow Food movement. Slow Food’s commitment to preserving the pre-industrial ways of making food provided Grom with a mission: to recreate the traditional ice creams of the region, which is known for dairy, nuts and chocolate, and especially for the chocolate-hazelnut combination gianduja.
“We do not do crazy funky flavors, but each one is the best,” Mr. Ciravegna said.
The company imports flavorings from small farmers around the world — pistachios from Syria, coffee from Guatemala, chocolate from Colombia — and now grows many ingredients on its organic farm outside Turin, where its sole factory is also located. (The mixtures are shipped frozen to Grom outlets all over Italy and in Tokyo and Paris as well as New York, and churned in each store.)
...
And the profit on packaged pints is nothing compared with the markup at the scoop shop.
“I only make a dollar on each pint I sell at Whole Foods,” Mr. Van Leeuwen said, but a single serving from the truck yields about $2.50 in profit.
Whether a particular cup of frozen delight is truly worth the price is, of course, a decision that only the market can make.
“The meaning of ‘premium’ now is very different from what it was when Häagen-Dazs came out,” said Robin Davis, food editor of The Columbus Dispatch and the author of a recent history of Graeter’s, a Cincinnati ice cream institution.
At the time, she said, all-natural ingredients and high fat content were enough to impart prestige and command a high price.
YOU CAN GET THE WHOLE SCOOP HERE.
“Sharing food is an intimate act
that should not be indulged in lightly.”
that should not be indulged in lightly.”
The full article states:
"America’s most expensive ice cream ... about $20 a pound."
I wonder how snus compares pricewise?
(At least snus is fat-free.)
Comment