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Cold Fusion: Tori Emmert talks gelato Photos by Camille Vynerib ’23
has the location of the storefront Q: How influenced sales?
on Main Street definitely brought A: Being in more customers. There is so much
foot traffic downtown, which has helped bring new people into the shop who maybe didn’t hear about Cold Fusion before. We have a great community of customers.
Q: What makes Cold Fusion special? definitely a mix between the ice cream A: It’s and the family-owned aspect of our busi-
QC & A
ness. Our connection to the town is very important, but also, we use all-natural ingredients, no preservatives, no artificial colors or flavoring.
Toby Goldfarb ’23
OPENING DOORS Tori Emmert ’23 (center) and her family opened Cold Fusion in downtown Westport in July.
Paper Sports Editor
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old Fusion, located at 178 Main Street, opened on July 8, serving handmade, kosher-certified gelato and sorbet made with all-natural, locally sourced ingredients — and love. Owned by the Emmert family, longtime members of the Westport community, Cold Fusion has evolved from a wholesale business based in Newport, Rhode Island into a new local staple. Although their gelato is milk-based and their sorbets are water-based, their business is community-based and each bite is enriched with flavor and care. Cold Fusion’s owner’s daughter, Tori Emmert ’23, enjoys working behind the counter alongside her family, where she learns the craft of entrepreneurship and ice cream scooping. did Cold Fusion become a business, what is its Q: How history? family bought the company from someone else alA: My most six years ago. The previous owner took the business
do you find inspiration for Q: Where the flavors?
A:
We draw inspiration from popular flavors, and then we like to experiment with ingredients and put our own spin on flavors to see what tastes good.
are the challenges of opening a Q: What small business during COVID?
were a big struggle in getting A: Permits open. Everything’s a lot slower with
COVID. I think working with contractors and builders, we’ve noticed that there’s been supply shortages with wood and tile. We also had to find staff, but overall, we’re really happy with the outcome of our storefront.
as far as he could, and we bought it from him to expand Cold Fusion.
your favorite flavor and the most Q: What’s popular flavor?
through word of mouth and social media (@coldfusionwestport and @coldfusiongelato). We opened a store in Westport because we have such a great community here and we figured, what better place to have a business?
chunks. I also really like the cappuccino chip. Another really popular flavor is the salted caramel chunk, which is my dad’s favorite.
favorite flavor would have to be Q: How long has Cold Fusion existed without a storefront? A: My either the dark chocolate sea salt or the peanut butter xanadu, which is peanut had a storefront during our wholesale business in A: We butter gelato with caramel and chocolate Newport, Rhode Island and we built the business out
