Dippin Dots Guy: What's His Future?

[The Interpreter]

http://m.theatlantic.com/business/archive/2011/08/dippin-dots-whats-the-future-of-the-ice-cream-of-the-future/244040/

[PREMiERdrum]

There was briefly a Dippin' Dots Ice Cream Parlour (of the future!) in Pickerington, a suburb of Columbus. It seemed to be busy initially, but the crowds soon wore off. I'd guess it wasn't there more than a year, and it left me with the feeling that this sub-zero snack was more enjoyable during a hot day at the amusement park or zoo.

[The Interpreter]

I actually find the competitor, Mini Melts, to have a much better product.

Dippin was losing business to them, sued them for patent infringement, LOST and LOST their own patent in the process:

http://www.zuberlaw.com/attorneys/articles/DippinDots-What_Went_Wrong.pdf

And now they finally no longer call themselves "The Ice Cream of the Future":

http://blogs.sj-r.com/offtheclock/index.php/archives/5494

Separately, anyone remember that awful freeze dried ice cream: Astronaut Ice Cream? Holiday World used to sell it years ago.

[Monroe]

Separately, anyone remember that awful freeze dried ice cream: Astronaut Ice Cream? Holiday World used to sell it years ago.

I get that stuff every time I go to the Air Force Museum in Dayton. You remember Dayton don't you Terp? It's that magical place where eagles learned to fly.

[CedarPointer]

Every time someone wonders why KI's (and everywhere else's) Dippin Dots are so expensive...

http://www.dippindots.com/products/lines/originalDots.html

$30 per gallon... I wonder how much blue ice cream costs per gallon! (I never understood why I would pay more for Dippin Dots than regular ice cream for a much smaller portion. But I guess that's just me. Or maybe not.)

[The Interpreter]

The parks do not order small quantities online that must be shipped by expedited carrier in dry ice. Dippin Dots must be kept at 40 below zero Farenheit, and require special handling and refrigeration throughout the supply chain. Once the first costs are covered, they can be a VERY high profit item.

One of the big problems is novelty, or more accurately, lack thereof. Dippin Dots are now no longer rare, new, exciting or special. At least not to most people. Given a choice of Graeter's or Dippin Dots for about the same price, most will and do choose Graeter's. Dippin Dots does indeed appear to no longer be the ice cream of the future.

[coasterfanatic83]

They were the ice cream of the future for the last 7ish years.

[markr]

The parks do not order small quantities online that must be shipped by expedited carrier in dry ice. Dippin Dots must be kept at 40 below zero Farenheit, and require special handling and refrigeration throughout the supply chain. Once the first costs are covered, they can be a VERY high profit item.

One of the big problems is novelty, or more accurately, lack thereof. Dippin Dots are now no longer rare, new, exciting or special. At least not to most people. Given a choice of Graeter's or Dippin Dots for about the same price, most will and do choose Graeter's. Dippin Dots does indeed appear to no longer be the ice cream of the future.

You said it Terpie. Graeter's has been around for over 100 years and it never ceases to please myself and millions of others.