The name is familiar, but the new product it’s attached to might seem surprising.
In March 2014, Yuengling (yes, that Yuengling) Ice Cream will hit store shelves in a re-launch of a product that hasn’t been seen in nearly 30 years. If the initial response is any indication, the ice cream should sell as well as the company’s wildly popular family of beers. Yuengling Brewery has been a fixture in Pottsville, Schuylkill County, since David G. Yuengling started the company in 1829.
For the record, Yuengling Dairy Products is not affiliated with Yuengling Brewery—it is a totally separate entity that happens to share a name. David is the second cousin of brewery president Richard L. “Dick” Yuengling, and David says they aren’t competitors.
“Of course we see each other,” he says. “Most people know we’re separate companies. Dick owns the Yuengling name and runs the brewery side. We support each other.”
The ice cream line is something of a second act for president David Yuengling, who spent the better part of the last 30 years in computer software sales, most of it on the road, and decided he was tired of all the traveling wanted to do something different. His friend Rob Bohorad, another Schuylkill County native, called him one day and suggested starting up the ice cream again. It sounded like an interesting idea to Yuengling, but he didn’t say yes right away. “We looked into it, and it made sense on paper,” he says. “We basically broke apart the business and figured out how each piece would work.”
“We’re both very methodical,” Bohorad says. “Even though we were excited about it, there was a whole lot of planning.”
A tasty history
The company’s initial venture into ice cream production dates back to 1920, when Prohibition forced the brewery to shut down its operation. Frank Yuengling, the brewery’s owner, decided to switch their focus to ice cream as a way to make up some of their financial losses, and Yuengling Dairy Products was born. (The brewery survived Prohibition, of course. According to company legend, a delivery truck full of Yuengling products showed up at the White House on the very day Prohibition was repealed on December 5, 1933.) Customers loved the ice cream, too, and for 65 years, the company continued to sell the product until shutting down the dairy division in 1985. Once the word got out that the ice cream would be back on store shelves, Yuengling and Bohorad say that the response has been tremendous. “Everything we’re hearing has been good—it brings back a lot of memories for people,” Yuengling says, adding that there have been a lot of mentions on social media, particularly Twitter, to help generate—and maintain—buzz. “We’re getting a lot of comments from people saying they can’t wait to try it.”
They’ve even gotten requests from people in Alaska asking if they can ship them a sample.
Getting started
Most entrepreneurs need seed money to get their business up and running, but in the case of Yuengling Dairy Products, the venture is privately family-funded at this point, but Yuengling and Bohorad say they are researching revenue streams for long-term capital. “We’ve looked at PADCO [Pottsville Area Development Corporation] loans and Schuylkill Chamber of Commerce programs,” Bohorad says. “We haven’t needed the funds yet, but we’re keeping our options open. I don’t think people realize how many small business resources are available, and it’s great that they’re there.”
Next, they needed a dairy. The first Yuengling Dairy Products was housed in a creamery in Pottsville that is now a vacant building owned by Dick Yuengling. The brewery recently announced that the old building would be revamped as a wastewater treatment facility for the brewery (the brewery is the single largest consumer of water in the city of Pottsville), so its future doesn’t include ice cream. The company has partnered with Leiby’s Dairy, another family-owned Schuylkill County-based business in Tamaqua, to make the products. “We decided to work with them for several reasons,” Yuengling said. “They are a local company, they have a modern facility, they are cost competitive with other facilities and they could handle our current and future estimated growth in production.” It also helped that Yuengling lives next door to one of the dairy’s owners. Leiby’s already co-manufactures ice cream for 15 other companies in their 30,000 square foot facility, so they were equipped to handle the product. Leiby’s employs 37 people at peak season, and co-owner William Parks says he’s not anticipating hiring additional staff, but “time will tell. If this brand does well and we need to hire more people, we will.”
The Yuengling team works with Leiby’s to develop the formulas for each recipe by giving them specific criteria for each flavor, stressing all natural ingredients and meeting a certain price point. “Because the company stopped making ice cream 30 years ago, Yuengling did not have recipes,” says Parks. “David tells us what they want and we come up with a prototype. Then we give it to them for final approval.”
Bohorad says they’ve tried to stick with the original formulas. “We’ve tried to keep it as close to the original as we could,” he says. The biggest change in the new line is the use of more natural ingredients. “There were a lot of artificial colors, preservatives, and flavorings in the original. The new product is all natural, which has increased the all over quality—it’s a much smoother, creamier product.” Yuengling says their ice cream can stack up against other higher-end, quality lines such as Ben and Jerry’s or Haagen-Dazs.
The first re-vamped line of Yuengling Ice Cream will include 10 flavors, which, Bohorad says, was difficult to choose. “The flavors are a combination of old and new,” Yuengling says. “People are going to expect some old favorites, and some new flavors, which we developed based on what we thought would sell well in today’s market.” Besides the usual flavors, some of the more unique offerings include root beer float, espresso chocolate chip, vanilla fudge chunk with pretzels, and—as a nod to their business roots—black and tan, which is described on the company website as a “swirl of Belgian chocolate and salty caramel ice cream”
Yuengling and Bohorad have a target of 400 grocery stores initially selling the ice cream. “We’re trying to keep it regional, but there is huge opportunity for growth,” Bohorad says. They expect the social media buzz to continue but also count on the stores to help promote the product. And as for using the Yuengling name to help sell ice cream, both owners agreed that the name will only get them so far. “We expected a lot of feedback from people who buy the beer,” Yuengling said. “We also have some flavors that are unique to our brand and we have a history of high quality and brand recognition. People will buy our ice cream the first time for the name but the quality and value will get them to buy it again.”
SARA HODON is a freelance writer who lives, works, and plays in Northeast Pa. Learn more about her writing trials and triumphs on her blog. Send feedback here.