In summary:
- Dave's Ice Cream has a factory capable of making 50,000 gallons of ice cream each month in Hawaii and sells about 15,000 gallons to restaurants and stores in Hawaii.
- The company formerly distributed its ice cream via Dean Foods subsidiary Meadow Gold Dairies-Hawaii.
- But starting next month, Meadow Gold will start to import ice cream from its plant in Utah to Hawaii.
- According to the AP, the shakeup will cut Dave's Ice Cream's business by $1 million annually. That's about a third of the business.
- Dean recently filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection and says the change will help centralize manufacturing.
- Owner Dave Leong is now scrambling to work out direct supply deals with restaurants.
- To make sure restaurants can still get their hands on Dave's Rainbow Sherbet, Green Tea and Ube (an island favorite that combines purple yam and vanilla ice cream).
- Leong says, it's the first time he's had to make sales calls in more than 20 years.
