Graeterâs.
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 Edyâs, use so much of these stabilizing ingredients that it actually prohibits them from melting, as ice cream should. In an article in Cookâs Illustrated magazine comparing supermarket vanilla ice creams, Edyâs Grand Vanilla was not recommended because of its âfluffy, marshmallow-y texture.â The editors also noticed that when left sitting at room temperature for twenty minutes, it didnât melt. (Graeterâs 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 Graeterâs will even consider. The ingredients in Graeterâs Ice Cream remain just cream, sugar, eggs and flavorings.
The low-fat segment remains one in which Graeterâs refuses to compete. âNo. Emphatically, no,â said Richard about adding a low-fat line to the mix. âThatâs just not ice cream. Dessert is an indulgence. Have a reasonable portion for dessert and take a walk.â
Richard believes in ârealâ food, the kind preached by well-known author and food philosopher Michael Pollan, who has written books such as The Omnivoreâs Dilemma , In Defense of Food and Food Rules . Graeterâs does not, Richard says, give the âslow-churnedâ varieties a second thought. âTheyâre 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.â
Graeterâs 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 â90s, 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. âWe did experiment with low-glycemic, not for diet reasons, but for diabetics,â Richard said. âIt was pretty good. Diabetics loved it.â
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. âWe decided it was not our niche,â Richard said, though he noted that he wouldnât mind having a low-glycemic offering if they could find the right ingredients to make it.
Nonetheless, locally, Graeterâs has done very well in Kroger stores in the Cincinnati area. Krogers sells more Graeterâs Ice Cream than Häagen-Dazs and Ben & Jerryâsâand 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, Graeterâs holds back on promoting one of the biggest strengths of its product: that itâs all-natural. Itâs obvious in the ingredient list, but itâs stamped in only small letters on the lids of the pints. âWeâve been careful to make a quality, all-natural product without trying to hype it,â 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.