Greater's Ice Cream by Robin Davis Heigel Page B

Pillsbury Corporation in 1983. Ben & Jerry’s, before it was taken over by Unilever in 1998, was worth $237 million.
    Richard also points out that, like Ben & Jerry’s, Graeter’s has always been a good corporate citizen; it just doesn’t trumpet its social mission. “Every good decent ethical company should behave in a decent way. You pay a fair wage, good benefits, use the best ingredients,” Richard said. “We’re involved in charities, public radio. We’ve done it for one hundred years. We just don’t turn it into a marketing gimmick.”
    Despite the excitement of the new plant and anticipated growth, both the third and fourth generations enter into the new decade with guarded concern. “I’m excited about it but there’s still quite a bit of trepidation. I’m still very nervous,” Chip said. “We’re still a very small business really. Ben & Jerry’s and Häagen-Dazs could crush us easily. Our product is still so handmade and hand crafted. Can it handle going beyond our little border? Our little area? I think so.”
    Kathy believes it can, too, as long as the company maintains the ice cream as it is. “We have to be very careful about it and make sure the product maintains its integrity,” she said. “I’m confident we can do that. I think this is a good direction to be going. The markets we’re going in have had some exposure to the product, and so far it’s been accepted.”
    Franchisee Jim Tedesko feels more ambivalent about the expansion. “I think it’s good. It will bring brand awareness on a national level,” he said. “But on the other hand, it’s kind of nice that we’re local and unique.”
    Tedesko says many people in Louisville bring out-of-town guests to the Graeter’s Ice Cream shops for something locally produced. “If everyone can get it, it’s not as special of a treat.”
A S PECIAL C ONTRIBUTION
    Graeter’s Ice Cream has undertaken a fair amount of charity work, including the development of a new flavor for a special little girl.
    In 2006, the Desserich family of Cincinnati received devastating news: Their five-year-old daughter, Elena, was diagnosed with brainstem glioma, a deadly form of pediatric brain cancer. She died a few months later.
    The Desseriches were determined not to let their daughter’s death be in vain, so they set up a foundation, The Cure Starts Now, to educate, aid and fund the research for a cure for pediatric brain cancer. As part of their first gala fundraiser, they approached the Graeters for a contribution.
    Richard said the Graeter family was touched by the story and offered to sell the opportunity for one person to create a new ice cream flavor in Elena’s name. The ice cream would then be sold at the retail outlets for one month, and a percentage of the profits would go to The Cure Starts Now.
    The flavor, Elena’s Blueberry Pie Ice Cream, went on sale in July 2008. It sold out in two weeks. “We had to scramble to make more,” Richard said.
    The Graeters decided to make Elena’s Blueberry Pie Ice Cream a permanent flavor, available by the scoop and by the pint at retail stores, select grocery stores and at their website, with a portion of the proceeds continuing to go to the fund. In 2009, Graeter’s donated $15,000 to The Cure Starts Now. In addition to helping to raise more funds, they sell the Desseriches’ book, Notes Left Behind , which is filled with the drawings and notes Elena left for her family in the months before she died, tucked into books on the bookshelf, between the dishes in the china cabinet and in briefcases and backpacks.
B AKED G OODS AND C HOCOLATE
    Despite the bright future for the ice cream, the future of the candy and bakery business remains in limbo.
    â€œThe candy business and bakery business have remained flat. We’re really just trying to make it reasonably