Graeter’s Fruit Fest Celebrates National Ice Cream Month
Graeter’s Ice Cream, a family-owned craft French Pot ice cream company, will celebrate National Ice Cream Month again this year with a calendar of events befitting 154 years of i ce cream expertise. The company begins the summer ice cream season with the continuation of Fruit Fest, a seasonal take on fruity ice cream flavors offered through its Bonus Flavor program in scoop shops. Graeter’s Fruit Fest invites ice cream lovers to cool off with flavor and a fun fruity lineup.
To celebrate National Ice Cream Day on July 21, Graeter’s Ice Cream will roll out a week-long promotion, starting July 15 through July 21, inviting Sweet Rewards Loyalty Program Members to celebrate in all scoop shops, with a $1.54 cone. Additionally, Graeter’s Ice Cream will once again hold its annual Coloring Contest with automatic eligibility for a free scoop upon entry. To learn more about these family-favorite events, visit your local scoop shop or graeters.com.
Graeter’s plans to further celebrate National Ice Cream Month with Graeter’s Fruit Fest, the continued unveiling of its Summer Bonus Flavors, including a selection of fruity ice creams, available for a limited time in scoop shops. These flavors are also available for nationwide delivery to friends and family at graeters.com. Each flavor, revealed every three weeks throughout the summer, offers ice cream fans the allure of innovative and refreshing tastes, all crafted with the quality and care that Graeter’s is known for. These flavors join Graeter’s traditional seasonal favorites, including Peach in July and Key Lime Pie in August.
“There’s no better time to celebrate America’s favorite sweet treat than during the sweltering summer months,” shares Chip Graeter, fourth-generation owner of Graeter’s Ice Cream. “We love celebrating National Ice Cream Month each year and look forward to welcoming our guests in our stores for our seasonal flavors and special offers.”
Stay tuned for fun National Ice Cream Month happenings with Graeter’s Ice Cream by following along on social media @Graeters and visiting a local Scoop Shop.
Graeter’s Ice Cream, celebrating its 154th anniversary, produces craft ice cream using French Pots, a small batch, artisanal method of production dating back over a century. The company has won the hearts of ice cream enthusiasts across the country as well as the respect of the nation’s most influential foodies. Tasted among 13 national brands, Graeter’s was voted the #1 Vanilla Ice Cream by MyRecipes.com in 2019. Famous for their signature chocolate chips, the Cincinnati-based company remains family-owned and operated and continues to handcraft ice cream 2 1⁄2 gallons at a time. Today, Graeter’s currently has 56 retail stores and ships over 300,000 pints annually for online mail-order sales and corporate gifting. Graeter’s can also be found in more than 3,000 grocery stores in 46 states. Visit www.graeters.com for more information.
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Parmigiana Reggiano USA to Promote Famed Italian Cheese
Building on last year’s announcement at Summer Fancy Foods that the Parmigiano Reggiano Consortium was focusing on promoting the distinctive qualities of its cheese rather than contrast the differences between the artisan cheese created 1,000 years ago and what is called “parmesan,” the consortium announced this week that it has formed an American corporation to further its mission.
Parmigiano Regiggiano USA has launched along with its own website, the consortium announced at media dinner hosted by its president, Nicola Bertinelli. The evening featured a menu with each course including Parmigiano Reggiano and created by brand ambassador Chef Michele Casadei Massari of Lucciola on New York City’s Upper West Side.
Bertinelli said up until last year, members of the consortium brought two suitcases to the Fancy Food Show – one filled with clothes and the other empty. Members would fill their empty suitcase with hundreds of samples of cheese proclaiming to be Parmigiano Reggiano, with half of them found to be incorrectly using the storied cheese name.
But the empty suitcases have been staying home, thanks to the consortium’s new strategy and the creation of its U.S. company.
“We want to build relationships with the distributors and point of sales,” Bertinelli said through an interpreter. “Because we believe (the mislabeled cheeses) were done in a good faith error. Nobody tried to trick anyone.”
The United States is an important market for Parmigiano Reggiano, Bertinelli said. With 47 percent of Parmigiano Reggiano exported from Italy, the United States accounts for 25 percent of the exports. Bertinelli said the consortium, which is celebrating its 90th anniversary, is aiming to have 10 percent of sales growth in the United States sales this year.
There is some talk about imposing tariffs on Parmigiano Reggiano, he said, but this kind of protectionism won’t help the U.S. dairy industry. Unlike the example of tariffs imposed on Chinese electric vehicles that protect the U.S. auto industry, Parmigiano Reggiano accounts for only 5 percent of the market.
“Nobody should be afraid of a country importing 5 percent of a market,” Bertinelli said.
Parmigiano Regiggiano USA also will be working with the U.S. dairy industry to promote the idea of protected designation of origin, which the consortium believes will help to introduce Europeans to distinctly American cheeses from such areas as Vermont and Massachusetts. It also will strive to even the playing field in imports, he said. While imports from Europe to the United States draw fees from $1.50 to $2, imports from the United States to Europe cost $4.
Parmigiano Regiggiano USA is in the process of formulating ways to work with distributors and point of sales to achieve its goals.
“We hope this sparks curiosity,” Bertinelli said.
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Graeter’s Ice Cream Unveils Another Bonus Flavor: Strawberry Lime Fiesta
Graeter’s Ice Cream, renowned for its indulgent, handcrafted flavors, signature chocolate chips, and Old World French Pot process, is unveiling the next Bonus Flavor of the season. Strawberry Lime Fiesta delivers a refreshing burst of summer with the perfect blend of ripe strawberries, zesty lime, and a hint of fiesta flair. This flavor combines the sweetness of fresh strawberries with the tartness of lime, creating the perfect pairing. Each small piece of lime zest and strawberries adds a subtle crunch, enhancing the overall texture and making each bite a fiesta of its own.
Bonus Flavors are a “secret” that remains under lock and key until the day it’s released. Guests will be notified of the new flavors via broadcast media, social media, local scoop shops, the Graeter’s app, and online store. Each seasonal flavor is considered a “Limited Time Only” offering, and once it’s gone, it is retired for the year.
Fans are encouraged to visit a scoop shop near them, go to the Graeter’s online store or App to try each limited time flavor for themselves this summer.
To learn more about Graeter’s Ice Cream or to buy the limited-time Bonus Flavors online, visit https://www.graeters.com or visit Graeter’s on social media @Graeters.
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