- • Create an excellent product
- • Provide an exceptional customer experience
- • Have fun
Our Story
This business started as an idea.
We had no prior knowledge of making ice cream or running our own business when we decided we would take a stab at starting an artisan ice cream company in 2007.
We had no reason to believe it would work. Not only did we not know how to make ice cream, but at that time, artisan ice cream was not even a thing yet. We were gambling on ourselves and also an industry that hadn’t been established yet.
Some things we did know were what our final product should taste like and the experience we wanted to give our customers. We knew we wanted to make handmade ice cream with seasonal, farmers market produce.
We knew we wanted to make handmade ice cream made with seasonal, farmers market produce.
By putting one foot in front of the other, we eventually found a pizza shop downtown LA that would let us make ice cream in their kitchen at night. We started selling at the only farmers market that would take a “new concept”, also Downtown (before it was cool). I was constantly recipe testing and shopping at the farmers markets for ingredients. It was a very exciting and exhausting time for our family!
From there we added additional markets, started selling wholesale and began providing catering services. We were starting to outgrow our shared kitchen.
In 2011 we opened our Pasadena creamery to support our current farmers markets, wholesale and catering. We were pleasantly surprised that we had so many people coming in the front door of our shop that we began focusing more on our own retail business.
Today we focus even more than ever on our shops and farmers markets. Our customers are our number one priority. Without them we wouldn’t be here. We are grateful to have such a wonderful following of ice cream lovers who have believed in us since our early farmers’ market days.
We are also lucky to have an amazing staff – our Carmela family – that truly cares about our business and help us manifest our idea into a reality on a daily basis.
