 | |
| Industry | Food service |
|---|---|
| Founded | 2002 Columbus, Ohio, U.S. |
| Founder | Jeni Britton |
| Headquarters | Columbus, Ohio , U.S. |
Number of locations | 66 retail locations |
Area served | United States |
Key people | Stacy Peterson (CEO) |
| Products | Ice cream and novelties |
| Website | jenis |
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is an artisanal ice cream company headquartered in Columbus, Ohio. Jeni's has over 80 ice cream shops and retail distributors in the United States. [1]
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams was founded by Jeni Britton-Bauer, who is the current chief creative officer.
Before starting Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, Britton-Bauer attended Ohio State University and studied art history and fine art. While in college, she was given vials of scented chemicals by a chemistry graduate colleague, which led her to gather essential oils, make her own perfume, and sell her perfumes for a few years. [2]
Bauer experimented with the essential oil of cayenne pepper and combined it with chocolate ice cream to make spicy frozen chocolate. She determined that ice cream was "the perfect carrier of scent," and thus began making other flavors of ice cream with essential oils. Two weeks later, she decided that she wanted to make scented ice cream as a business and dropped out of Ohio State. [2]
Bauer first sold her ice cream at a farmer’s market in Columbus, Ohio. [3] Later on in 1996, Britton-Bauer opened her first storefront in the North Market area of Columbus, dubbed Scream Ice Creams. Britton-Bauer worked there for several years while further developing flavors. [4] Some of the first few flavors were Salty Caramel, Wildberry Lavender, and Queen City Cayenne. After four years, Britton-Bauer closed Scream and attended the ice cream short course at Penn State. [2]
The first Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams opened in 2002, also in the North Market. This establishment offered a wider variety of serving options than Scream, which provided customers one flavor at a time. Within the first year, the brother of her then-boyfriend (now husband) Charly joined the company, making him the third member of the company in addition to Britton-Bauer and Charly. [2]
In 2006, Bauer opened her first store outside of North Market and continued to expand into other locations in the area. In 2009, John Lowe was appointed as the company's first CEO. [2]
As of November 2022, Jeni's employs about 1,800 team members. [5]
As of May 2022 [update] , "Scoop Shops" are located in fourteen states and the District of Columbia. [6] Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams pints are also distributed in over 3,000 high-end groceries and markets nationwide, as well as through online ordering. [7] In 2021, the company brought in $95.7 million. [4]
Jeni's is committed to using high-quality, sustainable ingredients from local farmers and producers and dairy from grass-pastured cows. [8] As of August 2022, Jeni's had 37 ice cream flavors on their menu, with new and changing flavors based on seasonality and partnerships. [9]
Jeni's partnered with Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey in 2022 for the non-alcoholic 'Boozy Eggnog' flavor. [25] More brand collaborations took place in the following years. A 'Biscuits With the Boss' flavor was created in promotion of the Ted Lasso television series.
Uncle Nearest Premium Whiskey and Jeni's partnered again in December 2023 to create a 'Hot Toddy' sorbet flavor, which was released in January 2024. [26]
On April 23, 2015, Jeni's initiated a recall of all products due to food safety concerns and a possible presence of Listeria in their products. [27] Jeni's initiated a second listeria-related recall in June 2015, connected to the first recall. [28]
In the listeria aftermath, Jeni wrote a blog post introducing the implementation of a testing and control program, writing: "I mentioned that our program was aggressive: we did almost 200 swabs every day for two months in our 2,000-square-foot production kitchen—almost "1,000 times" beyond the industry recommendation—to understand where the Listeria was coming from and eliminate it." [29] "We have multiple third parties inspecting our kitchen just to make sure that we’re doing everything right."..."When I look back, I think of it as a time when we were kind of clarified by fire and we learned about ourselves." [4]
Jeni's received a positive review on the "Hot and Spicy" episode of Food Network's show The Best Thing I Ever Ate (2010). [30] It was reviewed in The Washington Post (2011), [31] The Huffington Post (2012), [32] and U.S. News & World Report , who ranked it #1 in America in 2012. [33] The Chicago Tribune (2011) said "Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams is gaining a national reputation for producing superior desserts made of milk sourced from a family farm in Ohio's Appalachian region." [34] Time magazine said it "has a large cult following among Ohio émigrés and ice cream geeks." [35]
The Atlantic positively reviewed it saying "Jeni's flavors are not successful simply because they are irreverent and ground-breaking. They work because a great deal of effort has gone into their crafting—what at first glance seems whimsical, upon first bite is proven artisanal." [36] It has also been positively reviewed in The New York Times (2011), [37] and by Today (2012). [38] In 2007, The New York Times said Jeni's had "surpassed the creativity of all other ice cream makers with its versions like goat cheese and Cognac fig sauce." [39]
In 2012, Jeni's received a Sofi Gold Award in the "Dessert or Dessert Topping" category for Lemon Frozen Yogurt. [40] In 2013, Jeni's won another Sofi Gold Award in the "Outstanding Product Line" category. [41] Beginning with her early days at Scream and continuing to the present, Britton Bauer's ice cream has incorporated products local to Columbus and Ohio, including milk, fruit, and whiskey. [2] [42]
Fast Company named Jeni Britton Bauer one of the Most Creative People in Business in 2018. [43] In 2019, Inc. listed Jeni's as #2329 on its Inc. 5000 list. [44]
Britton Bauer received an honorary doctorate in business administration from Ohio State, the university she had attended but left in her sophomore year to pursue a career in ice cream, after serving as the commencement speaker at the summer 2016 graduation. [45] [46]
In 2011, Jeni Britton Bauer published her first cookbook, Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams at Home, which became a New York Times best-seller; and The Wall Street Journal called it the "homemade-ice cream-making Bible." Britton Bauer won a James Beard Foundation Award for the cookbook. [47] The book was also nominated for the Goodreads Choice Awards Best Food & Cookbooks that year. [48]
Britton Bauer published Jeni's Splendid Ice Cream Desserts in 2014 "to provide an audience with the tools to craft their own ice cream-based creations". [49]
In March 2019, Britton Bauer published her third cookbook, The Artisanal Kitchen: Perfect Homemade Ice Cream: The Best Make-It Yourself Ice Creams, Sorbets, Sundaes, and Other Desserts. [50]
Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food colouring is sometimes added in addition to stabilizers. The mixture is cooled below the freezing point of water and stirred to incorporate air spaces and prevent detectable ice crystals from forming. It can also be made by whisking a flavoured cream base and liquid nitrogen together. The result is a smooth, semi-solid foam that is solid at very low temperatures. It becomes more malleable as its temperature increases.
A soufflé is a baked egg dish originating in France in the early 18th century. Combined with various other ingredients, it can be served as a savoury main dish or sweetened as a dessert. The word soufflé is the past participle of the French verb souffler, which means to blow, breathe, inflate or puff.
Gelato is the common word in Italian for all kinds of ice cream. In English, it specifically refers to a frozen dessert of Italian origin. Artisanal gelato in Italy generally contains 6–9% butterfat, which is lower than other styles of frozen dessert. Gelato typically contains 35% air and more flavoring than other kinds of frozen desserts, giving it a density and richness that distinguishes it from other ice creams.
Shortcake generally refers to a dessert with a crumbly scone-like texture. There are multiple variations of shortcake, most of which are served with fruit and cream. One of the most popular is strawberry shortcake, which is typically served with whipped cream. Other variations common in the UK are blackberry and clotted cream shortcake and lemon berry shortcake, which is served with lemon curd in place of cream.
Graeter's is a regional ice cream chain based in Cincinnati, Ohio. Founded in 1870 by Louis C. Graeter, the company has since expanded to 50 retail locations selling ice cream, candy and baked goods in the Midwestern United States. It further distributes its ice cream to 6,000 stores throughout the country. As of 2017, the company had 1,050 employees and $60 million in revenue.
Sorbet is a frozen dessert made using ice combined with fruit juice, fruit purée, or other ingredients, such as wine, liqueur, or honey. Generally, sorbets do not contain dairy products.
Mövenpick Ice Cream is a brand of ice cream of Swiss origin produced initially by Nestlé. Since 2016, Froneri - a joint venture between Nestlé and R&R Ice Cream - manufactures it.
Double Rainbow is an American brand of premium ice cream, sorbets, and frozen desserts based in San Francisco, California. Founded in 1976 by two childhood friends, the company has remained a family-owned and operated business for over 40 years. The company distributes locally and nationally at retail stores and grocery outlets nationwide. Dubbed as "The Official Ice Cream of San Francisco" by former Mayor Willie Brown, Double Rainbow has won numerous awards, including "Grand Champion" at the World Dairy Expo. Manufactured products include dairy, non-dairy, and soy-based products. All of their ice creams are certified Kosher by the Orthodox Union.
Wet walnuts or just walnut topping is a dessert topping made from walnuts and maple syrup. Sometimes simple syrup, corn syrup, sugar or brown rice syrup is used instead of the maple syrup. Wet walnut topping is similar in some respects to pralines, except that the walnuts are always served in syrup, rather than as individual pieces. Some commercial preparations of premade wet walnuts exist.
Frozen dessert is a dessert made by freezing liquids, semi-solids, and sometimes solids. They may be based on flavored water, on fruit purées, on milk and cream, on custard, on mousse (semifreddo), and others. It is sometimes sold as ice-cream in South Asia and other countries.
Sorbetes is a traditional ice cream originating from the Philippines and uniquely characterized by the use of coconut milk and/or carabao milk. Often pejoratively called "dirty ice cream", it is distinct from the similarly named sorbet and sherbet. It is traditionally peddled in colorful wooden pushcarts by street vendors called "sorbeteros". It is served in various flavors in small wafer or sugar cones and more recently, as a pandesal bread ice cream sandwich.
A banana split is an American ice cream-based dessert consisting of a peeled banana cut in half lengthwise, and served with ice-cream and sauce between the two pieces. There are many variations, but the classic banana split is made with three scoops of ice cream. A sauce or sauces are drizzled onto the ice cream, which is topped with whipped cream and maraschino cherries. Crushed nuts are optional.
Coolhaus is an American ice cream company based in Los Angeles, California, founded in 2009 by Natasha Case and Freya Estreller.
John Lowe is the CEO of Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams and Eat Well Distribution.
Halo Top Creamery is an ice cream company and brand sold in the United States, Australia, Mexico, Canada, Ireland, New Zealand, the Netherlands, Germany, Denmark, Taiwan, Hong Kong, South Korea, Austria, United Kingdom and the United Arab Emirates. The brand is marketed as a lower-calorie alternative, partially substituting sugar with stevia, a plant-based sweetener, and erythritol, a sugar alcohol.
Sherbet, often referred to as sherbert, is a frozen dessert made from water, sugar, a dairy product such as cream or milk, and a flavoring – typically fruit juice or purée, wine, liqueur, and occasionally non-fruit flavors such as vanilla, chocolate, or peppermint. It is similar to, but distinct from sorbet, which lacks dairy.
Beer ice cream is a type of ice cream prepared using beer as an ingredient. Beer ice cream prepared using darker beers typically has a more distinct flavor compared to that prepared using lighter beers. The alcohol in the beer is sometimes present in the finished ice cream, while other preparations involve cooking, which can evaporate the alcohol.
Queso ice cream, also called keso ice cream or cheese ice cream, is a Filipino ice cream flavor prepared using cheddar cheese. It is one of the most common ice cream flavors of the traditional sorbetes ice cream, and is commonly served on with scoops of ube, vanilla, and chocolate ice cream in one cone.