The NICRA Blog https://icecreamassociation.org/members/blog_view.asp?id=1776574&rss=9dsia2ay Thu, 4 Jun 2026 03:04:23 GMT Tue, 7 May 2019 16:02:59 GMT Copyright © 2019 North American Ice Cream Association Memorable Ice Cream Snags Blue Ribbon https://icecreamassociation.org/members/blog_view.asp?id=1776574&post=323473 https://icecreamassociation.org/members/blog_view.asp?id=1776574&post=323473  

Sam Gurwitt Photo

SAM GURWITT PHOTO

Kelly Ciccone of Kelly’s Cone Connection, which recently won national recognition.

As Kelly Ciccone scooped rounds of her acclaimed chocolate ice cream into cones, she served more than just milk, cream, chocolate, sugar — if she got the batch right, her cones held memories that connected a bite from 2019 with a bite from 33 years ago.

Ciccone of Kelly’s Cone Connection at 2538 Whitney Ave. in Hamden, has been making her chocolate ice cream in the exact same way she did when she opened the shop in 1987.

That chocolate recently won her a blue ribbon at the National Ice Cream Retailers Association (NICRA) convention in Colorado Springs.

In order to win a blue ribbon from NICRA, an ice cream must stand out in a number of areas, including color, texture, taste, and bacteria count. (You don’t want any of the latter.) Ciccone said she has entered the NICRA competition before and won, but this year was her first time in 12 years.

She said she entered “just to make sure I’m doing everything right.”

FOR THE FULL ARTICLE - CLICK HERE

https://www.newhavenindependent.org/index.php/archives/entry/kellys_serves_memories_in_a_cone/

]]> Tue, 7 May 2019 17:02:59 GMT How Did Ice Cream Get So Expensive?? https://icecreamassociation.org/members/blog_view.asp?id=1776574&post=321793 https://icecreamassociation.org/members/blog_view.asp?id=1776574&post=321793  cream is not the American Dream, not exactly. It’s more like the American Way. It has countless stories to tell, and anyone can tell them. Walk up to the freezers at Whole Foods and stare at the rows and rows of primo pints. Which will you choose? Will it be a Van Leeuwen, wrapped in clean, modern, Easter egg monochrome? A whimsically hand-doodled Ample Hills? Or a McConnell’s, the epitome of old-fashioned?

Here is a great article on the pricing of ice cream products and how the consumer driven pricing structure is evolving

https://www.eater.com/2019/4/9/18280840/fancy-ice-cream-van-leeuwen-jenis-salt-straw-mcconnells

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