The Bulletin-February 2023

Marketing Techniques for Growing Your Bottom Line

50 Ideas for Growth

Top 8 Graphic Design Trends for 2023

The Official Publication Of The North American Ice Cream Association

Making Sanitation Your New Year’s Resolution

February 2023

THE BULLETIN

A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Ahh February – The month for lovers…. And Nutella, Peppermint Patties, and pork rinds believe it or not.

February is also the month when we really should be starting to dust off the SOPs, spreadsheets, and employee manuals and start to plan for the upcoming season. Marketing and promotions should also be the focus for the upcoming months.

Marketing is one of those tasks that fall into the Important but Not Urgent category of our time allotments. We all know we need to do it, but because it isn’t “knocking on the door” we tend to kick it down the road. However, your time and effort into marketing and promotions is a marathon and not a sprint.

The time and effort you put in now, in the early part of the year, pay dividends when the season hits, particularly with social media. As you start to think about production, flavor profiles, menus items, and the like, include your followers in the process.

It can really be as simple as having someone take some photos and short-form videos of some of the tasks that you are already doing.

In any case, there is some great content and advice in this month’s bulletin.

I hope you enjoy it and feel free to share the link with those who are tasked to help you with your marketing plans and execution.

Steve Christensen Executive Director

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Don't Miss a Beat Confirm your contact detials on your membership profile are correct to ensure you keep up to date will all things Ice Cream

CLICK HERE FOOD SAFETY SUPPORT HOT-LINE FOR

SMALL/ARTI SAN DAI RY PROCESSORS

Not sure where to start? Our network of food safety experts from Universities across the US are here to help you take the next step by providing free one-on-one plan consultation and review.

315-787-2600 Dairyfoodsafetycoach@cornell.edu

Conenect With Our New Mentorship Program We are looking for mentors for the Association mentor program. Please CLICK HERE to get eligibility details and sign up today!

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Food Safety Corner Making Sanitation Your New Year’s Resolution was wrong, so we were asked by the farm to help figure out the problem.

Image Courtesy of Taylor Johnson, 2022 Elevated microbial counts ending up in your finished product?

Billions of dollars are spent on routine microbiological testing in the food industry each year. Samples are typically analyzed for both internal quality and regulatory programs. All of this money and effort is intended to support the production of safe and wholesome food for the consumer, but that requires that we watch for trends and investigate them – even when it is inconvenient. Read more to find out what might be lurking inside.

This past Spring, Oregon State University’s Food Safety Squad received a call from a local farmstead milk processor that had high Standard Plate Counts (>10,000 CFU/ml) in their vat-pasteurized white and chocolate milk. The Oregon Department of Agriculture (ODA) routinely collects and tests pasteurized milk samples and there had been a pattern of elevated counts over multiple sampling days.

On review, pasteurization processes were being followed and cleaning and sanitation procedures, including clean-in-place (CIP), seemed to be appropriate. Something else

Through additional analyses, we confirmed that the pasteurization procedure was effective, but there was likely a microbial harborage site somewhere between the vat and the filler. We invited ourselves to the processing facility so that we could visualize the system and determine the problem. It became obvious that the only possible culprit was the plate cooler.

Our visit to the farmstead processor occurred on a Friday afternoon after they had finished processing, cleaning, and sanitizing. We were certain that the plate cooler was the problem, but knew that dismantling, cleaning, and reassembling would be a full day’s worth of work for the farmer.

We got started right away and prepared to take samples as we carefully removed and inspected each plate, looking for cracks and particulates. We started from the cold end of the pasteurizer and for the first half of the plates we found nothing of interest except for the occasional bleached strawberry seed. The plates and gaskets were spotless and in good condition.

We kept at this and eventually, we found the most impressive biofilm (see photo above).

This beauty was located in the upper bulk section just past the transition point where the product started to move down the plates. We collected many samples and found the predominant organism involved in the biofilm to be Leuconostoc lactis. This psychrotrophic

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Mlactic acid bacteria and was causing premature spoilage as reported by customer complaints. The plate cooler was thoroughly cleaned, reassembled, and a full CIP was performed. Milk samples were collected, and we confirmed that removal of this biofilm solved the high SPC problem.

Periodic Equipment Cleaning (PEC) – A necessary inconvenience We rely and (blindly) trust the CIP procedure to “do its job” for complex pieces of equipment and focus manual cleaning and sanitation efforts on the equipment that don’t have a CIP option. Fortunately, this approach works most of the time.

However, the efficacy of CIP in heat exchangers is highly dependent on having nearly perfect flow in every plate and every exchange zone in the system. A flow rate change or a small clog/impediment could result in an area of the machine not being effectively cleaned. A crack in a plate could lead to product contamination with a cooling fluid potentially introducing chemical (e.g., glycol) or microbial (e.g., contaminated water) hazards. Small, thin pieces of debris can get stuck between plates and the continuous flow of product erode the surface of the plates. There is no easy way to find these problems unless the equipment is disassembled.

Dismantling, cleaning, and repairing equipment is never convenient. Taking apart plate coolers

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(or full HTST pasteurizers) is big job for a processing system of any size and scale.

Even large milk processing facilities only perform PEC on their pasteurizer on an annual basis – often after the eggnog season (nutmeg particles are hard on gaskets and surfaces). As innovation in dairy products increases and/or dairy processors co-manufacture non-dairy beverages, it is important to consider how particulates may damage your equipment and how that should influence your PEC schedule.

Special Thanks to Joy Waite-Cusic, Associate Professor of Food Safety Systems and OSU Food Safety Squad Director, Samantha Burroughs, Faculty Research Associate and Lab Manager of the OSU Food Safety Squad, Brandon Riesgaard, M.S. BUILD Dairy Student and member of OSU Food Safety Squad, Taylor Johnson, M.S. BUILD Dairy Student, Eckelman Fellow, and member of OSU Food Safety Squad for their contributions.

A Kaleidoscope of Opportunity: Marketing Techniques for Growing Your Bottom Line It’s extremely important while setting a solid marketing plan to be strategic and most of all achievable. Keep in mind while setting your goals that we often operate as a one man show, literally! Consistency is crucial.

We are fortunate to be in the ice cream business, bursting with flavor and color—a kaleidoscope of opportunity! Keep it fun and be creative!

We all know to increase our bottom line we must either: Drive more business through our doors Get our customer base to spend more during the visit Or ideally, both! Two strategies to consider are using social media to create buzz around your business and using specialty menu boards to help guide your customers toward higher ticket sales.

Social media: Grow your business and increase foot traffic with Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, Snapchat, and Tiktok.

Advertise in the store the fact you are on social media Ask your customers to ‘like’ your social media pages to grow your followers Utilize targeted hashtags to your posts to increase views In your shop, advertise to your customer about the fact you are on social media with signs saying, “show me you are

following us to receive 10% off your purchase”. Make sure your employees ask the customer before ringing up the sale— the customer will love the extra savings while the new followers increase your future business!

There are no hard and fast rules with social media but research shows you should set goals on number of posts per day/week and try your best to stick to it. Here’s a sample schedule: Post 1 promotion per day on your feed, no less than 3 per week Post 1 – 2 stories per day, no less than 5 per week More posts are not necessarily better; you could do more damage than good. By over posting, you could be annoying potential followers that may cause you to be penalized by algorithms. Also, don’t post just anything, keep your goals in mind and make them count. Keep it fun--bright pictures of cakes, sundaes, milkshakes, videos add music.

Another way to increase your reach is by utilizing targeted hashtags# on your posts.

Try starting with #your name, #your location/city name, #your product(s), #special event. Pay attention to placement to avoid clouding your promotional message. Place the hashtags either 3 or more lines under your promotional message (or) in the comments section of the post. Look what others, particularly

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successful competitors are doing, imitation is the sincerest form of flattery Menus: Generate boards.

higher

sales

with

specialty

‘Make-your-own’ sundaes are wonderful— the customer picks their favorite toppings and flavors to make their own special delicious treat. However, think of how overwhelming it could be walking into a store with a board filled with choices… oh no…people are behind you…the pressure!!!

If you do not have one now, try a little experiment: offer a suggestive sundae board. Pick four, five or more suggestive sundaes with a higher price point. If that is too many for your operation, pick a special sundae of the month. The idea is to take the pressure off the customer’s choice all while tempting them to consider your well thought out special, with the goal of increasing the total sale per customer.

This same specialty board also works well with milkshakes. Try adding a cookie or brownie piece on top for a premium shake!

Save the Date Conecon 2023 will be held on the November 2nd, 3rd, and 4th in Las Vegas, NV Details to Follow

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If you track the sales of the suggestive sundae board, I bet you’ll notice that they outsell the ‘create-your-own’ sundae, even though they cost more. Goal achieved: get the customer to supersize their order!

Keep in mind while creating your menus that it’s just as important to make it look as special and delicious as it tastes! If it looks good, customers may choose to take a photo and tag you on social media, free advertisement and a happy customer – the other main reason we are here!

Remember our kaleidoscope of opportunity and you will think of endless ways to attract customers and grow your bottom line. Keep it colorful and fun—it’s ice cream after all!

By Sharon Lines, Dingman’s Dairy

Conenect With Our New Mentorship Program We are looking for mentors for the Association mentor program. Please CLICK HERE to get eligibility details and sign up today!

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Top 8 Graphic Design Trends for 2023 Target Market Design aesthetics are constantly changing.

Each year brings new fashion, interior design, and digital design trends.

Fortunately for us in the digital world, playing with graphic design trends on your social media page or website is a little easier than decorating a room in your house to fit the latest aesthetic of the moment. To get you up to date with what you can expect to see in the upcoming year, I sat down with our Creative Director, Patrick Brickman, to talk graphic design trends for 2023.

Infographics The infographic we’re all familiar with is normally a static image that churns out facts and figures, but 2023 will be ushering in a new and improved version of an infographic that reflects the brand in a more engaging, visual way. An example of this is the personalized data presented in Spotify Wrapped.

This information combines eye-catching wallpapers with engaging designs that users want to save and share.

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AI Computer Art Do you remember how your news feed was flooded with AI depictions of your friend’s faces? Well, that’s not likely to be going anywhere in 2023. Ever since Instagram users jumped at the chance to see what they would look like in AI, we’ve started to see even more filters and apps in our daily scroll. While we’re still seeing AI on Instagram, we’re also seeing it infiltrate .

TikTok trends and will likely see AI computer art influence other facets of digital design. Something to keep in mind for the next year: AI has already garnered some negative attention for copying the styles of IRL illustrators and painters without credit, so it may be best to proceed with caution.

Vintage If you scroll through the available filters when creating an Instagram story, you may notice that “Kodak” has a number of vintage filters to choose from. This makes sense, considering that vintage color palettes are one of the top graphic design trends for 2023. This year we will be seeing a lot more shades, texture, and noise reminiscent of vintage photographic film on everything from social media content to website design.

Neon Prepare to be seeing a lot of neon both in graphic design and in physical spaces in 2023. While it’s unlike to see a brand go for an entirely neon color palette, splashes of bright colors will be all the rage, a style that echoes the trends of the 1990s, but more on that later. LED will also be commonplace over the next year, as it is a fun and effective way to draw more attention to signage (we’re looking at you, Charleston Printing).

Color Palette Refresh The New Year is a great time to analyze what’s working for your brand and to start

fresh if necessary. We find that many of our clients take time to assess their own creative at the start of each year by evaluating if their current logo aligns with their target audience and if it meets the quality of their business. Modernizing your logo and refreshing your color palette is a great way to elevate your brand and improve the quality of your graphic design content for the rest of the year.

TargetMarket had a chance to take our own advice by recently refreshing our color palette, logo, and overall aesthetic. We can speak from experience when we say it has made us feel like we’ve leveled up.

Surrealism One of the trends that Patrick is interested in playing with is surrealism. This trend uses saturated colors, floating objects, and hazy elements to create strange but interesting worlds. Combining this graphic design trend with other hot typography styles can allow you to set your brand apart from the rest.

90s Graphic design trends often align with trends in other mediums like fashion and interior design. This is most noticeable in our next graphic design trend that takes inspiration from the decade of my birth– the 90s. We’ve already seen Gen Z take to the streets wearing things that we thought we’d never see again (hello, flared jeans), but as it turns out, the 90s will be impacting our graphic design content as well. As we previously mentioned, neon will be having a moment in 2023, but we’ll also see some graphic design trends pulled from the darker side of the 90s, with punk and grunge elements like satirical imagery, collages, and graffiti.

Target Market

Responsive Design One of the most interesting and important design trends that we’ll see on websites is known as responsive design. Responsive design is when the design and development of a website respond to the user’s behavior and environment. Elements such as rollovers, transitions, and subtle animations are ways that users can engage with the website. While these micro-interactions between the website and the user are unique and engaging, websites with user-responsive design are also great because they automatically adjust to different screen sizes. And with nearly 60% of web traffic coming from mobile devices, using a responsive design on your website is key in ensuring that your website is optimized for mobile display.

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50 Ideas for Growth OK, we haven’t done one of these sessions before so here we go. Here are 50 rapid fire ideas for growth. Maybe you already have some of these ideas working in your business, or perhaps a version of them. If you already use all 50, then drop me a line – I would love to verbally shake your hand.

These ideas fall under the categories of products, promotions, and aspects of your “place” 1. Have your employees all create a flavor and hold a competition to see which sells the best. You can also do this for local schools or clubs.

2. Flights – having a container that holds 4 or 5 small scoops of your ice cream rather than the larger scoops.

3. Run a designer sundae of the week program asked customers to design a sundae for you.

4. Follow a “National Day” calendar a make flavors based on a national day, such as National Strawberry Ice Cream Day, or similar celebrations 5. Conduct shop “tours” showing preschool and local groups a behind the scenes tour of your business, ending with an ice cream making session.

6. Host “after hours” parties with ice cream making lessons and or pair a meal from a local restaurant with your ice creams.

7. Have a logo or place in your shop where customers can take a photo of their ice cream in front of, like a backdrop to their image.

8. Offer a waffle cone upgrade if they “check in” to your business on their favorite social media app.

9. Have a Photo Booth set up in a corner of the shop for a weekend and have customers take photos with props and your logo. Post these straight to social media.

10. Offer local musicians or school performers to play in or outside your business.

11. Have the local football or sports team come in and serve customers in their uniforms/jerseys for donations to their teams fundraiser.

12. Do a collaboration with a local bakery, cookie or treat store and profile their products in your ice cream flavors.

13. Place some gift cards or “buy one get one free” coupons or vouchers on the shelves randomly in your local grocery store, library or other retail shop and see who finds them and brings them in.

14. Use QR codes on flavors on your menu to take customers to a link with a background or origin story to the development of that flavor.

15. Post customer quotes and favorable comments on your social media.

16. Feature your employees with name tags listing their favorite flavor.

17. Start a celebrity scooper program with local police, firemen, ambulance drivers, teachers, and other community leaders.

18. Host an ice cream eating competition.

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19.Place a large jar of sprinkles on the counter and have a competition to guess how many are in there – Winner gets free ice cream for a year.

20. Ask happy customers to write a review on their favorite social media app.

21. Free Follow Weekend. Have a tablet/computer at the counter and ask customers to follow you on social media or on the phones. Off a free upgrade when they do.

22. Print stickers with your logo on them – give them out with every cone or cup.

23. Link up with a local balloon artist or clown and feature them on weekends. You get great reviews, and they get to promote their business as well.

24. Host a karaoke night on your slow nights of the week. Every singer gets a free cone.

25. Start a customer loyalty program through punch cards or through your register system. Each purchase goes towards a free item or discount.

26. Print “great student: free cone cards and give some to local teachers or principals. These programs always bring better rewards than the cost of the cone.

27. Giant Sundaes – Serve a monster sundae in a kitchen sink or massive bowl for families or groups to come in and take photos with. If they eat it within a certain time, they get their photo on the wall for fame.

28. Have a wall of Fame.

29. Give out coloring in sheets with your logo, cones and cows on them. Keep crayons at the counter 30. Have a small toy or collectible with a kids sundae and have a new one each week to collect.

31. Up sell – Always ask “When you like that in a waffle cone” 32. Feature unique cups – small plastic bathtubs, rubbish bins, baseball caps and other promotional containers.

33. Chocolate dip anything. Bananas, Cones, Chocolate Bars, frozen cakes.

34. Designate an employee to be your party coordinator. Have them book ice cream birthday parties and give a percentage of the sale to them.

35. Livestream to social media during one of your ice cream making sessions 36. Give free dog treats to customers walking dogs – Have a bowl of water out for them as well.

37. Offer to accept competitors coupons or discount cards.

38. Sell your own branded bottled water.

Its cheap to do and looks great promoting your business.

39. Get a cone – Give a cone. Have a board or coupon code, where customers can buy a cone for a friend while they are there. Their name goes on the board to redeem when they come down.

40. Have a “Name of the Day” for a free cone during slow times. “Harold gets a free cone today”

41. Take a photo of every menu item you have, and post one new one every day.

Maybe have a photographer come in and take a bunch of images at the start of every season.

42. Feature local fruits, and other delicacies with your ice cream flavors.

Think out of the box.

43. Have some “off the menu” ice cream flavors. Don’t display them, but tell customer to always ask “What flavors are in the Back Freezer” 44. Always answer bad reviews – Apologize and try to make it right, even when you know they are wrong.

45. Try paid ads on Facebook, targeting certain demographics and user hobbies in your local area. Track the results.

46. Join your chamber of commerce and interact and cross promote with other local businesses.

47. Spinning Wheel – Everyone loves a spinning prize wheel. Offer free or discounted menu items but also help feature other local restaurants.

48. Team up with a local cause like the animal shelter, library or community organization and work with them on a promotional program such as reading or literacy, adoptions, and other community causes.

49. Sell your ingredients. Offer your special vanilla in your logo’ d bottles.

50. SMILES – They don’t cost anything, and customers love them.

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FEBRUARY 2023 Daily Holidays

Candy-Making Day: 1 Crepe Day: 2 Bubble Gum Day: 3 National Ice Cream For Breakfast Day: 4 World Nutella Day: 5 International Frozen Yogurt Day: 6 Opera Day: 8 National Pizza Day: 9 No One Eats Alone Day: 10 Don't Cry Over Spilled Milk Day: 11 Super Bowl LVII (57): 12 Galentine's Day: 13 Valentines Day: 14 National Gum Drop Day: 15 National Almond Day: 16 Random Acts of Kindness Day: 17 National Drink Wine Day: 18 Chocolate Mint Day: 19 Presidents Day: 20

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International Pancake Day: 21 George Washington's Birthday: 22 National Chili Day: 23 Tootsie Roll Day: 23 Tartar Sauce Day: 24 World Pistachio Day: 26 National Retro Day: 27 National Tooth Fairy Day: 28 Leap Year Day: 29 Superman's Birthday: 29

MARKETING CALENDAR MARCH 2023 Daily Holidays

National Peanut Lovers Day: 1 Dr. Seuss Day: 2 Princess Day: 3 National Frozen Food Day: 4 Daughters' and Sons' Day: 5 National Dentist's Day: 6 National Cereal Day: 7 National Peanut Cluster Day: 8 Barbie Day: 9 Mario Day: 10 Genealogy Day: 11 Daylight Saving Time Begins: 12 Donald Duck Day: 13 Potato Chip Day: 14 Pi Day : 14 National Panda Day: 16 St. Patrick's Day: 17 National Corn Dog Day: 18 National Chocolate Caramel Day: 19 World Flour Day: 20 Twitter Day: 21

As Young As You Feel Day: 22 Ramadan: 22-4/20 National Chia Day: 23 National Chocolate Covered Raisins Day: 24 Pecan Day: 25 Spinach Day: 26 National Scribble Day: 27 Barnum & Bailey Day: 28 Piano Day: 29 Pencil Day: 30 National Crayon Day: 31

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DISPLAY ADVERTISING Hey there, Supplier Member. Hopefully by now you have seen quite a few changes in the way the association is improving member benefits and communicating with our members.

Our main method of communication is still our monthly Bulletin published on the 10th of each month. Up until recently, The Bulletin has struggled to attract advertisers and we have been offering free ads to those supplier members who contributed an article.

THE GOOD NEWS IS.....

We have recently put extra effort into increasing the effectiveness of the Bulletin with the following functions: Full Color Front Cover President and Executive Director Messages Monthly Food Safety Articles Marketing and Event Calendars More Links to articles and online content.

This has led to high engagement through open rates and link clicks.

With this higher engagement, we are having more inquiries by Supplier Members about advertising to our members again in the Bulletin. For this purpose, we are publishing The Bulletin Advertising rates for 2022.

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Frequency rates are based on the total number of insertions used within a twelvemonth period.

Space Reservations: 10th of month preceding publication Material Deadline: 15th of month preceding publication.

Please direct any questions to Steve Christensen, Executive Director at the below contact details.

636 778 1822 * Toll Free: 866-303-6960 E-Mail: info@icecreamassociation.org * Web: www.icecreamassociation.org

Association Officers 2023 President Kelly Larson, Sweet Temptations, Grand Haven, MI Vice President Rick Pizzi, Pizzi Farms, Waltham, MA Treasurer Meg Cappanari, Cappanari's, Mt Prospect, IL

Immediate Past President Dave Deadman, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, Madison, WI Executive Director Steve Christensen, Wildwood, MO COMMITTEES AND COMMITTEE CHAIRMAN Executive Committee Kelly Larson, Sweet Temptations, Grand Haven, MI Nominating Committee

Dave Deadman, Chocolate Shoppe Ice Cream, Madison, WI Convention Committee

Kelly Larson, Sweet Temptations, Grand Haven, MI Membership Committee

Rick Pizzi, Pizzi Farms, Waltham, MA Ice Cream Clinic Committee

Christine D’Amico, Over the Top, Pleasant Hill IA Scholarship Committee

Sue Kloter, Kloter Ice Cream Barn, Ellington, CT

This Bulletin is published by: The North American Ice Cream Association PO Box 601 Wildwood, MO 63040

NONDISCRIMINATION POLICY The Association is committed to a policy of nondiscrimination in all of its endeavors. To that end, we shall not tolerate any words or acts of discrimination, harassment or any inappropriate behavior in general against any person affiliated with the association, including its members and guests, with regard to race, sex, color, creed, religion, age, national origin, disability, marital status or sexual orientation.

This issue of The Bulletin is now available online at www.icecreamassociation.org. Click on the Members Only button and enter your Username and Password. If you cannot find your Username and Password, call the office at 866-3036960 or send an e-mail to info@theicecreamassociation.org requesting the information.

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