Rural Missouri - October 2020 - 21

Opposite page, clockwise from top left: A pair of customers survey the 30 ice cream flavors available at the Eldon scoop shop. Black raspberry ice cream fills out a housemade waffle cone. The Triple Chocolate Brownie Sundae features two layers of both brownies and hot fudge. Cobalt
Cookie ice cream is scooped into a waffle cone. Waffle cups make the perfect vessel for an ice cream sundae.

A two-story scoop shop, drive-thru and open-air seating
area make up the front of the building. They've restored
almost the entire factory and are still working on expansion. The former smoking room is now where Shannon and
his team make 2,500 tubs and 25,000 pints of ice cream
each week.
The Ice Cream Factory uses a 14% butterfat mix, compared to a normal 10% mix. "That puts us into the premium ice cream category," Shannon says. "That does three
things for us. The ice cream is creamier, smoother and
more flavorful."
They make their high butterfat ice cream in a smallbatch freezer, getting four tubs out of each batch. "After
our base is made, we hand layer premium ingredients to
make our final product," Shannon says. "That means real
Oreo's, Andes Mints, homemade gooey butter cake pieces."
In total, the crew at the Ice Cream Factory makes 70
different flavor combinations throughout the year. Each
scoop shop is stocked with 30 flavors at a time and their
10 most popular are available in retail stores.
There's many different flavors that catch your eye. The
Cobalt Cookie is a bright blue ice cream base with cookie
dough and chocolate chips added. The bright yellow Tiger
King features cake batter, Oreo's and buttercream frosting and is an homage to the
popular Netflix series that
debuted earlier this year.
One of the most popular
flavors and Shannon's favorite is the Gooey Butter Cake.
"It's a 14% butterfat base
butter and cream cheese ice
cream that has caramel and
butterscotch hand layered
into it," Shannon says. "Then
you get these big 1-inch
square chunks of gooey butter cake made by Angela's
Lake Catering. So it's locally
made."
The Ice Cream Factory
sources Missouri-made
ingredients for other flavors too. The brownies are
from Angela's, the pecans
are from King Hill Farms
in Brunswick, milk for the
shakes from Ozark Mountain
Creamery in Mountain Grove
and they get honey from a local apiary.
The one-, two- or three-scoop cups or waffle cones are
the main draw at the Ice Cream Factory. However, for some
over-the-top decadence try the Triple Chocolate Brownie
Sundae. A homemade waffle bowl is loaded with brownies
and drizzled with hot fudge, then topped with ice cream,

more brownies, more hot fudge and a cherry on top.
In addition to the two scoop shops, Ice Cream Factory
fans can get their fix at more than 100 restaurant and
retail locations. Bee's Knees Ale House in Versailles counts
on the Ice Cream Factory to provide them with their honey
ice cream. Owner Chris Byars says that local connection
helps his ale house stand out.
"A lot of our customers already might drive over to
Eldon so they know the quality and skill Shannon and
his staff have at making ice cream," Chris says. "They're
happy they can get that here when they come and dine
with us, especially when we can tell them the ice cream
uses local honey."
The Jefferson City location opened on Leap Day this
year. The timing wasn't ideal as COVID-19 shut down
most all businesses a few weeks later. "I told our employees it could always be worse, we have to do what we can,"
Shannon says. "For most of March through May, we delivered ice cream to a 30-mile radius of the store. It was an
opportunity for us to maybe find some new customers and
deliver a little happiness."
Bringing joy to people didn't stop once the weather got
hotter. Starting in late July, Shannon started his "Tour of
Happiness." The 14-day, 131-city tour spread throughout
Missouri and parts of Arkansas. The Ice Cream Factory
trailer would show up in
the new city, hand out free
scoops to everyone in line
then head down the road to
the next city.
"At the time everything
was getting cancelled and
people still weren't sure
about school," he says. "We
thought we could bring a
little happiness to people's
lives. We went through more
than 16,000 scoops and
got to meet some great people, especially in Missouri's
smaller towns."
Shannon knows that happiness is key to keep delivering treats to Missourians.
"When people come here,
they're going to feel valued
and excited to sit down and
have the ice cream," Shannon says. "We've got great ice cream that's delicious. But I
tell our team all the time, we're not in the ice cream business, we're in the experience business."

"YOU CAN'T BUY
HAPPINESS, BUT YOU
CAN BUY ICE CREAM
AND THAT IS PRETTY
MUCH THE SAME THING."

- UNKNOWN

For Ice Cream Factory locations, retail availability or
online ordering, visit www.icecreamfactoryco.com.
OCTOBER 2020 | RURALMISSOURI.COOP

http://www.icecreamfactoryco.com http://www.RURALMISSOURI.COOP

Rural Missouri - October 2020

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