
HONOLULU (AP) β Hawaii chain Zippy's Restaurants signed a deal to continue serving Dave's Ice Cream in all of its 24 locations, officials said.
The arrangement will result in annual servings of at least 23,500 gallons (88,957 liters) of vanilla and 16,000 gallons (60,567 liters) of chocolate ice cream from Daveβs as dessert and in milk shakes, Zippyβs said.
The bankruptcy last month of national food and beverage firm Dean Foods caused concern at Dave's, owner Dave Leong said.
Meadow Gold plans to supply its Hawaii customers from a Utah plant beginning next month and the change cut off a third of Daveβs business, amounting to more than $1 million annually, Leong previously said.
The ice cream is also sold in Hawaii restaurants Teddyβs Bigger Burgers and Big City Diner, and supermarkets that sell pints of Daveβs.
Leong expressed gratitude for the support from Zippyβs.
βIβm just trying to keep my staff employed during the holidays, and as long as I have a few more local companies like Zippyβs to jump on board, my 20 employees will continue to have jobs,β Leong said in a statement. βI canβt thank Zippyβs enough for their help and association.β
The restaurant's parent company, FCH Enterprises, is committed to supporting local product suppliers, President Paul Yokota said.
βBuying ice cream, or any other local product, from small local producers presents the risk of continuity of supply, but we urge other local companies to look at local producers, especially when the product is as high of a quality as Daveβs,β Yokota said in a statement.
"We believe that local companies need to support each other. Itβs good for jobs, for the economy, and for our shared food security,β Yokota said.