The Bulletin-January 2023

Blocking Out Your Calendar For The New Year

5 Social Media Should I raise Marketing my prices this Trends for 2023 year?

The Official Publication Of The North American Ice Cream Association

What You Need to Know About The Association App

January 2023

THE BULLETIN

A MESSAGE FROM THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR Welcome to 2023 everybody.

Well after another wild and woolly year, we find ourselves at the beginning of a new one. I always say at this time every year, “New Year; New Me.” We could probably equally say, “New Year; New Goals”, or “New Year; New Strategy”, or “New Year; New Energy”.

In that regard, you may see a change in the way the monthly bulletin is formatted this year. As the association office works on a more targeted content stream, we are utilizing topics and focuses each month that reflect on the time of year, where we are in the season, and those aspects that will most align with the focus of our industry and our members.

The first bulletin of the year concentrates on Goals and Planning.

I hope that as you are planning your personal and business year out, your goals remain SMART. Remember the old acronym: Specific Measurable Achievable Relevant and Time Based.

This is the perfect time of year to look at menu content and layout, sales volumes, labor and food costs, marketing plans and the other aspects of the business that seem to challenge us when we are elbow deep in a bucket of cookies and cream in July.

One aspect of your association membership that we would like to take off your plate is wondering when your renewal date is. Many members have expressed the many hours they lay awake in bed at night wondering if their membership dues are current. Worry no more. This year we are moving to a single day renewal which will be on the 1 st of September.

More on that later (and by the way, no need to thank us – that’s what we do) I hope the information in this edition of the bulletin is helpful to realign priorities, stretch your goals and achieve more than you expected in 2023.

Happy New Year and All the Best for 2023

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Steve Christensen Executive Director

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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What You Need to Know About The Association App If you have not yet downloaded the association app add it to your new years resolutions. This app will give you the functionality and information available with your association membership at your fingertips.

If you are a Member of the Association, and an apple user, go to the Apple App Store and search “North American Ice Cream Assoc” to find and download the app.

Android users – Go to the Google Play Store and search “North American Ice Cream Assoc” to find and download the app.

Logging into the App: On the login screen, enter your username and password you use to log into the association membership site.

Division Join your geographic division and discuss location specific quandaries.

My 365 Keep all of your saved topics, division, suppliers, member connections, in one central place.

Members Search our membership directory for members in your area. Connect with other members through email, over the phone or through their website.

Calendar View what events are coming up for the association, but also events hosted by our suppliers.

Within the app you will see icons to help you navigate through the information available.

Social Feed Interact with members through posting images, questions, and comments in our Social Feed area.

Topics Discuss items relating Food Safety, Marekting, Production, HR, Training, Business growth and product related information.

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Conecon Our convention app is accessed through the Conecon section of the association app.

Supplier Directory Find suppliers based on product offering and location. Connect with suppliers through email and view their websites directly from the app.

Leadership & Staff Connect with Association directly through the app.

leadership

Training Access our online training directly through the app. The topics range from Customer Service, Health Training, Production, HR, Staring your Business and Policy and Procedure.

The Bulletin Access all of our previous bulletins directly through the app.

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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Scan the QR Code below to download the app and unlock all of these features.

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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Blocking Out Your Calendar For The New Year Hopefully, at the beginning of this new year, you are looking at a 2023 calendar, that is relatively blank. Sure, there are the obligatory dates and events that you have penciled in, but way before the season commences, let’s spend a couple of paragraphs and talk about penciling in some events and occurrences nice and early, so, they are already locked in.

Employee meetings Having a meeting with your managers and your crew is an essential part of running a business. There are so many good things that happen as a result of regular team meetings.

The most important of which is that your crew feels that they have a say, and their opinions are heard, as to what happens in the day-to-day, running of the business. If I were to suggest a time frame for these meetings, I would have them every six weeks. Every month tends to be a little too often, but if they blow out to two months or more, you don’t get any momentum out of these meetings.

Perhaps schedule them on a Saturday morning so that they don’t conflict with any of the store hours. Remember, this is a paid meeting. They are on the payroll when they come along, but really you shouldn’t need any more than an hour.

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We used to serve them up a simple breakfast, maybe pancakes and juice, and then go over some new flavors and promotions, some changes in policy and procedure, and give our crew a chance to give us feedback on the management and operation of the business.

Again, I found personally that when you take the time to acknowledge and listen to your team, they tend to work better together, and there is less resistance in following instructions and requests.

Your Monthly Marketing Session Every month you should block out a morning or an afternoon to concentrate on your marketing strategy for that month.

Marketing and promotions fall into the classic “important but not urgent” bucket.

We all should be doing it, but often those urgent matters that rise to the top of the task list push marketing planning down to the bottom.

Having time already blocked out to review community events and happenings, sponsorship opportunities, and community events can be very valuable, particularly if you participate regularly in happenings around your community.

Part of this session should also include what your focus will be on social media and digital marketing for the upcoming month. Perhaps the first session of the

year should look at your website. Are all of your information, menu and links current?

Is it time for a refresh?

Do you have all of your social media accounts listed correctly? All of these things take time, and if you already have a block of time dedicated on the calendar, it’s a lot easier to commit rather than kick the can down the road.

Finance meetings Once a month, you should also be taking some time to reviewing your invoices and ensuring that what you are paying for your ingredients, and what you projected that you were paying are the same thing. Your two variable costs are your food cost, and your labor cost. These are described as “variable” for a reason. Without being checked, they can blow out of control.

You may only need a couple of hours here, but this is valuable time to go through invoices and payroll spreadsheets and make sure that what you think is happening on the balance sheet, and what actually is happening are one in the same.

Many entrepreneurs find themselves spinning plates and bouncing between each pole to keep them spinning. This can be exhausting, and if you don’t have any way to relieve the stress or blow off some steam, this could have disastrous outcomes.

Perhaps once every two or three weeks, schedule an hour or two for yourself to do something that you like. Go on a hike or play some tennis. It might even be taking some time off to visit some other ice cream or frozen dessert stores.

Time away from your business can be an extremely valuable way of reinvigorating your entrepreneurial spirit and not suffering from burn out.

Yes, there will be many daily, weekly, and other monthly meetings that you can schedule in and around these blocks of time. But in reality, if you don’t get onto your calendar nice and early and block out some of these important, but not urgent sessions, you will find it very hard to find time when you are in the thick of it.

Time for yourself This may be one of the meetings that you are great at scheduling, or perhaps terrible at. Many entrepreneurs find joy in the challenge of running their business, growing their business, or even looking at new opportunities.

My wife calls me a plate spinner. Do you remember those old spinning plate performers? They have a dinner plate, spinning on the top of a tall rod, and the more they twirl the rod, the plate keeps spinning and stays upright . As soon as one of the rods starts to lose its momentum, the plate starts to wobble, and if attention isn’t given to it, the plate will come crashing to the ground.

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5 Social Media Marketing Trends for 2023 Target Market The years move fast, but social media moves faster. Staying informed on social media marketing trends is crucial for brands to boost engagement, reach, and conversion rates while simultaneously building customer loyalty and a unique brand impression. Here at TargetMarket, we know a thing or two about staying up to date with the latest social media marketing trends. Check out the projected trends for 2023!

Augmented Reality (AR) Augmented reality is a subsection of artificial intelligence and is predicted to become mainstream in the coming years.

Not only does it allow your brand to improve its promotion and advertising efforts, but it also reinvents how consumers share, communicate, and create content on various social platforms. Some benefits of AR in social media marketing include ‘Try’ before you buy Immersive experiences Branded filters Content sharing With the benefits of augmented reality being so great and adaptation so easy, the number of mobile AR users is expected to reach 1.4 billion in 2023.

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Micro-Influencers Influencer marketing is not a new phenomenon. Big brands such as Dunkin’ will collaborate with influencers that boast millions of followers to increase sales.

However, in 2023 micro-influencers are

expected to lead to great success compared to celebrity endorsements.

Although micro-influencers have smaller audiences, they often have higher engagement rates and a lower price point. For your social media marketing in 2023, partnering with several smaller influencers with niche communities may result in a better return on investment.

Short Form Videos It’s no secret that video is king. Unlike static images, video offers a landscape to express creativity in such a crowded space. As 2023 approaches, audiences continue to consume more and more short-form video content. Is this due to our depleting attention spans? Maybe.

Regardless, video is here to stay. Apps like Tik Tok have proven consumers’ appetite for short-form videos, which expanded to other platforms such as Instagram reels and YouTube shorts.

Short-form videos can be a great addition to your social media marketing strategy in 2023. If you don’t know where to start, TargetMarket has you covered.

Social Audio Social media platforms such as Facebook are entering the market early with an audio creation tool that will allow users to create “Soundbites.”

According to Facebook, Soundbites are creative, shortform audio clips for capturing anecdotes, jokes, moments of inspiration, and more.

In addition to Soundbites, Facebook is adding a podcast feature and live audio

rooms in Facebook and Messenger.

Facebook is not the only one jumping on the social audio bandwagon. Twitter also has voice tweets and Twitter spaces, while LinkedIn has Audio Events.

UTM Codes UTM (Urchin Tracking Module) codes are used to track and measure the effectiveness of digital marketing campaigns, including those on social media. Hootsuite outlines the three main benefits of UTM tags, including Track the value of social marketing programs and campaigns to measure ROI Provide precise data about conversion rates and traffic sources Allow you to test on individual posts in an A/B testing style

UTM codes are pieces of code that get added to URLs and are among the most accurate way to measure and prove the value of your social media efforts, refine your social media marketing strategy, and track influencer marketing results.

Target Market

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Should I Raise My Prices This Year?

Well here we are in 2023, and who else is looking forward to a cracking year of excitement and scooping?? I know I am.

Among all of the other fun “off season” activities you are more than likely involved in right now, may I suggest we take a couple of days to review where our pricing is and determine where we will be tweaking the menu boards? You may be taking a double take there and questioning to yourself, “A couple of days??”

Traditionally ice cream and frozen dessert business owners would have a cursory look at the past year's sales, and simply wave a “3% to 5%” wand over the menu for next year and call it a day. Well last year wasn’t any ordinary old year. Fuel and energy prices went through the roof. The butter index, which drives the commodity pricing for dairy products in the US, has spiked to an all time high, and pretty well everything that we use to make up our fabulous mane items has risen in price over the past 6 to 8 months.

almost endless. However, there are some simple and essential reports we can run to determine what should even feature on our menus this season.

The first of which is the percentage of sales each item on the menu is reporting across your total yearly sales. If you have a menu item that is markedly lower in sales than others on the menu, you really need to consider taking it off. It doesn’t need to go to the flavor graveyard altogether; A lot of these items can still perform well as a seasonal item or a limited time offer.

And let's face it; not every menu item is a winner, but I think when you pull the data, you will find that there may be 2 to 5 items that you know just aren’t selling well.

It's time to take them off.

So, when we look strategically at our pricing for this coming season, I think we need to do a little more research. So, as we dig a little deeper into raising prices, let’s talk about a little history, before we jump into factoring in the future.

Trim down the menu.

I don’t think any of us really maximize the full use of our POS or register systems. The reports and data that we can mine is

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You may not even have to replace them with anything. Less can be more when it comes to an ice cream shop menu. Too many of us like to pack the menu to make it look full, rather than concentrate on items that are really popular and sell well. Once you have carved some of the dead wood away, we can concentrate on some of your costs.

Reestablish costs When was the last time you really sat down with a price list, a spreadsheet and honestly figured out how much each item on the menu actually costs you. I’m not talking about “off the top of your head” or an accurate guess. I’m talking about breaking down the building blocks of each menu item and accurately listing the current cost of each element of that menu item. For example. Lets break down the elements of a hot fudge sundae: 1 x 12 oz sundae cup 3 x 3oz scoops of vanilla ice cream (include the landed cost of that vanilla as well) 2 pumps of hot chocolate fudge 2 spoons of nut topping 1 dollop of whipped cream 1 maraschino cherry 1 spoon 1 Napkin ¼ of a lid Hit up your suppliers.

You should have a breakdown like this of every single item you have on your menu.

From every size cone to your medium and large, frozen beverages, and each, and every flavor you have in the case, if this applies to you.

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You can’t just guesstimate want items fit into each Sundae. You have to be very specific and targeted to cover every menu item you have on your menu board.

For example, you will note that I listed a quarter of a lid. This would be an example where we don’t give a lid out with every single item, but we calculate that about one in four customers may ask for a lid.

Your employee should not be encouraged to offer a lid. You are more than willing to provide one if they ask, but simply offering a lid to every single customer, whether they want one or not, does not make good financial sense.

This whole process of calculation may fill many tabs of a spreadsheet. Remember, you have already peeled off some of the menu items that don’t sell well, so you only really need to do this calculation with those that you know are popular.

If you’re in the premium ice cream or gelato game, you should have a tab on your spreadsheet for every single flavor that you make. A nice easy vanilla should only contain your base and a vanilla extract. Something more complicated like a black raspberry cheesecake, should include your base, your cheesecake extract or syrup, your cheesecake bits, your ribbon of black raspberry purée, your pie crust pieces, and everything else you put in this flavor.

All of this may sound a little tedious, but it is a must if you truly want to master the process of knowing exactly what you sell, and what it actually costs you I know what you’re thinking. I didn’t get into the Ice-Cream business to slave over a hot spreadsheet late at night, looking at how many mini-M&Ms I need to make up a flurry, and how much they cost. Yes, this isn’t the sexy part of owning an ice cream shop. But it is one of the essential parts.

Once you have worked through all of this costing, you can feel confident knowing that this information will help you focus on communicating with your suppliers in vendors, and also help you refocus on portion control.

Hit up your suppliers OK. Now that you have all of this information in your arsenal, it’s time to start looking to reduce some of the food, cost percentages, or cost of goods on the spreadsheet.

A call or an email to your suppliers asking for updated pricing should be on your list of things to do at the beginning of every season. If you have continually grown your business, and your volume ordered last year was more than the year before, surely that is worth a reduction in pricing.

Never be embarrassed or reluctant to ask a supplier for a price break. Remember, as you grow your business, they grow theirs, so any assistance they can give you to be more profitable and sell more items, they are going to benefit from in the long term anyway.

If you don’t qualify for a volume discount, ask your suppliers about new products, or different suppliers that can provide a similar quality product that you are using for a reduced price. This is only one element of doing the research on a price increase but it is an important one. At least you can feel comfortable knowing that you have the best possible price from your suppliers.

You may come across another supplier, either online or around town, that may have one or two items for a slightly cheaper price, but you may think that it would be more of a hassle to bring on a new supplier for one item only. You need to get this thought out of your mind.

Let’s say for example my 12-ounce sundae cup is costing me $.15 from my regular broadline distributor. I may do some online research or find out that another paper supplier in town has that very same cup, or something almost exactly the same for $10 less a box.

I would be going back to my initial supplier and say to him, hey, I have someone else in town with a better price than yours on this Sundae cup. Can you match it? This conversation can only really go two ways.

They can match it, and you can continue to order the same cup from the same supplier a little cheaper, or they can tell you that they are locked into their pricing, and they can’t do anything for you.

In my opinion, you need to then go to that second supplier and start buying that one product from them. This sent the message to your initial supplier, that you are willing to overlook convenience, to ensure the best pricing you can get.

This may mean a little more bookwork, and dealing with one or two more suppliers, but keeping your core suppliers honest, and knowing that there are others in the market that are providing good competition, is essential in ensuring the profitability of your business.

Now that you know your menu is populated with items that are popular and will sell, and you have the best possible pricing structure after doing some research, now is the time to determine what the price increase will be, and whether it will apply to everything, or just selected items on the menu.

Select items to increase.

There are two ways to look at price increases for your products. You can either

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just apply an increases for your products.

You can either just apply an increase to everything on the menu, or you can select certain items that you know are higher in your costing and are selling well.

I personally don’t think that your whole menu deserves a price increase. After the research that you’ve done, you will be able to see that some menu items are well priced, and increasing them for the sake of it, may not go down well with your customers.

treating a family member for a job well done.

Also, people are paying for their entire experience and not just the ice cream itself.

If your business is well decorated, with a beautiful waft of waffle cones, and soothing music, with excellence in customer service, you can charge a little more knowing that the overall experience in your store is what your customers are paying for.

I really do think that this research is essential, particularly this coming year.

You really need to look at those items that People are watching what they are sell well but are a little more expensive to CLICK spending cream and HERE TOmoney SIGN IN on, ANDand GET ice STARTED make. These are the items you should be frozen dessert is a relatively inexpensive concentrating on as a price increase. novelty or treat, but do you want to make Again, in previous years, ice cream shop sure you are giving them the best owners would throw a 3% to 5% increase in, experience for a reasonable price. but last year many ice cream shop owners bumped that percentage up to 8% or 12% The only way you can really do that, is on some items . understanding exactly how your costs and prices are in relation to each other, and You know your customers better than most, ensuring you are building your financial and you should have a really good feel for elements to benefit you and your business the demographic and the vibe of your for the coming year. customer base.

Remember, general increase in pricing of food, and in particular ice cream products will be no surprise to them. Many of your customers are already well aware of the rising costs of fuel and food.

But remember, that this simple ice cream treat, or what we call an inexpensive 15minute vacation down to the ice cream shop, is often a stress reliever or a moment to take a step back from the stresses of life, and just enjoy a sweet treat to take the edge off some of the troubles they are going through.

I will also add that many of your customers are not coming into your shop just to get ice cream. They are there for a celebration, or a commiseration, or a pick me up, or

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MARKETING CALENDAR JANUARY 2023 Daily Holidays

New Years Day: 1 National Buffet Day: 2 Drinking Straw Day: 3 National Chocolate Covered Cherry Day: 3 Trivia Day: 4 National Keto Day: 5 Whipped Cream Day: 5 National Shortbread Day: 6 Three Kings Day: 6 National Play Outside Day: 7 National English Toffee Day: 8 National Hot Tea Day: 12 Rubber Ducky Day: 13 National Bagel Day: 15 Fig Newton Day: 16 National Rye Whiskey Day: 17 Popcorn Day: 19 National Cheese Lovers Day: 20 National Pie Day: 23

National Peanut Butter Day: 24 National Irish Coffee Day: 25 National Peanut Brittle Day: 26 Fruitcake Toss Day: 28 National Puzzle Day: 29 Croissant Day: 30

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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

A NOTE FOR OUR SUPPLIER MEMBERS

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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.

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

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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.

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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.