Greater's Ice Cream
Graeter’s.
    Most commercial ice creams already use industrial ingredients that mimic the luxurious mouthfeel from butterfat and eggs, which are too costly and too perishable to add on a large scale. Some of the ingredients are natural, like carrageenan, which is extracted from algae. Others, including mono- and di-glycerides, are synthetic.
    Some of these ice creams, such as Edy’s, use so much of these stabilizing ingredients that it actually prohibits them from melting, as ice cream should. In an article in Cook’s Illustrated magazine comparing supermarket vanilla ice creams, Edy’s Grand Vanilla was not recommended because of its “fluffy, marshmallow-y texture.” The editors also noticed that when left sitting at room temperature for twenty minutes, it didn’t melt. (Graeter’s was not included in this comparison because, while it is sold at supermarkets, it is not a national brand.)
    When it comes to low-fat ice cream, the newest ingredient is a manufactured version of a protein found in fish, along with a low-temperature extrusion process that increases the creaminess of low-fat ice creams. But these ingredients are notones Graeter’s will even consider. The ingredients in Graeter’s Ice Cream remain just cream, sugar, eggs and flavorings.
    The low-fat segment remains one in which Graeter’s refuses to compete. “No. Emphatically, no,” said Richard about adding a low-fat line to the mix. “That’s just not ice cream. Dessert is an indulgence. Have a reasonable portion for dessert and take a walk.”
    Richard believes in “real” food, the kind preached by well-known author and food philosopher Michael Pollan, who has written books such as The Omnivore’s Dilemma , In Defense of Food and Food Rules . Graeter’s does not, Richard says, give the “slow-churned” varieties a second thought. “They’re using technology and stabilizers and ingredients to try to give the mouthfeel of a full fat product without being one. I would rather just have cream, sugar and eggs.”
    Graeter’s has always, however, offered no-fat fruit sorbets that are truly just remnants of the very first ices before cream was introduced. For a short time in the ’90s, the company also had a line of low-glycemic ice creams at the retail stores, but they were not aimed at cashing in on diet fads. “We did experiment with low-glycemic, not for diet reasons, but for diabetics,” Richard said. “It was pretty good. Diabetics loved it.”
    Unfortunately, the supply of the sweetener that they used in place of sugar because it did not cause sugar levels in the blood to spike was not reliably available. “We decided it was not our niche,” Richard said, though he noted that he wouldn’t mind having a low-glycemic offering if they could find the right ingredients to make it.
    Nonetheless, locally, Graeter’s has done very well in Kroger stores in the Cincinnati area. Krogers sells more Graeter’s Ice Cream than Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerry’s—and at some stores more than both of them combined. Cincinnati is the only place in the country, possibly in the world, where thosetwo internationally known super-premium ice creams are not number one and two in sales at grocery stores.
    Unlike other companies, Graeter’s holds back on promoting one of the biggest strengths of its product: that it’s all-natural. It’s obvious in the ingredient list, but it’s stamped in only small letters on the lids of the pints. “We’ve been careful to make a quality, all-natural product without trying to hype it,” Richard said.
    Häagen-Dazs, on the other hand, released a new line of ice creams called Häagen-Dazs Five, emphasizing that each one contained only five ingredients. The catch? The majority of its ice creams, aside from those with candy or cookie pieces, had always had just five ingredients.

Similar Books

Paxton's Promise

L.P. Dover

Sea of Christmas Miracles

Christine Dorsey

Asylum

Patrick McGrath

Flicker

Anya Monroe

Elysium

Jennifer Marie Brissett