Thank you to each and every new customer that has supported eCreamery!

Here is a brief Q & A regarding what eCreamery Ice Cream & Gelato has seen since airing in September 2012.

Shipping days looked differently after Shark Tank.

1. How has business been going? 

Until Shark Tank, we had done $2 million in sales over 5 years.  Thanks to the exposure from Shark Tank, this year from September through December 2012 we will do over $500K in three months.

2. What has changed since Shark Tank?

We have bought 3 new freezers, hired 6 new employees and are looking at production facilities so we can keep up.

3. What does the future hold for for eCreamery? 

Next year we are forecasting nearly $2 million in sales. So, the future MUST hold a production facility for us. We have added three new freezers and 6 new employees since the show aired but we don’t have another inch for more freezer space or for customers while we ship in the parlor. By 2015, we will be close to a 5 million dollar business.

The stack of orders we had in the first 8 hours of airing!

4. Tell me about your Shark Tank experience. What has it meant to you? 

Being on Shark Tank let us hit fast forward with our small business. We knew we had the right people and products but we needed the promotion to let people know ice cream gifts exist. We thought that would come with partnering with the expertise of a Shark. However, even though we did go home in lots of  tears that we did not make a deal, things are turning out very well for us. We learned that “a win” may be disguised as a loss.

The experience of Shark Tank also gave us a huge boost of optimism.  After you are working so hard on something around the clock for 5 years, sometimes doubt can creep in. Is this all really worth it? Being on Shark Tank connected us with entrepreneurs from around the world that really reinvigorated us. We had calls and emails of support from literally all of the world.

We both even cried a few times going through all the emails of support we got. Even connecting with the other entrepreneurs going on ST  was so valuable to us . They inspired us. Yeah, some of them may seem crazy, and America might call them nuts, But they are DOING SOMETHING.  They aren’t sitting on their couch waiting for something to happen. They are putting themselves in a Tank of Sharks to build their dream.  That inspired us more than I can really say.

5. What has your customer response been like? Do your clients love it?

Freezers filled with ice cream creations from across the United States. We worked nearly through many nights fulfilling all of the delicious deliveries.

The clients have absolutely loved it. And as we said on the show, “Who doesn’t love ice cream??” We are working with new clients from all industries and backgrounds. Right now we are working on flavors for Bio tech, financial services, hollywood studios, marketing firms, a scuba company, a nuclear power provider and a Canadian trampoline company. Like we said,  ”Who doesn’t like ice cream?”

6. Has Shark Tank affected you personally? Have your lives changed? Families?  

We work a lot more! But our families are very excited for us.

7. What did you learn from coming on Shark Tank that has helped your business?

Success doesn’t always arrive in the “packaging” you expect it to!  You have to take what you are dealt and make the absolute best of it!

Want to hear more? See these articles on the Post Shark Tank Success of eCreamery.com:

Omaha World Herald: Surviving the Tank

Silicon Prairie News: Traffic and Sales soar, investors call on eCreamery post-Shark Tank

eCreamery created a custom ice cream flavor for each of the Sharks to pitch the delicious deal.

The founders of Omaha based eCreamery Ice Cream & Gelato, Abby Jordan and Becky App, appeared on the ABC television’s series, Shark Tank on Friday, Sept 21^st. Jordan and App pitched their eCommerce business of custom made ice cream and gelato gifts to The Sharks on the second episode of season 4 (episode 401).

eCreamery is seeking a $250,000 investment to build additional ice cream production and freezer space for their quickly growing ice cream gift business.

eCreamery Ice Cream & Gelato has been in business since 2007 and is a 100% women operated business. The startup was funded by investor Mark Hasebroock of Dundee Venture Capital.

The small business is busy preparing for 9 million Shark Tank viewers to learn about their ice cream gifts.  eCreamery has increased production by 400% in anticipation of the show’s airing.

The Shark Tank Flavors:

These flavors are now available at eCreamery.com and in the Omaha parlor by the scoop.

Kevin’s Shark Bait:  Sea Salt Caramel Gelato with Chocolate Covered Pretzels

Robert’s InvestMint Mix: Premium Mint Ice Cream with Oreo Cookie Pieces

Barbara’s Delicious Dividends : Mocha Almond Fudge Ice Cream

The Cubanero : Spicy Dark Chocolate Sorbetto (Dairy Free flavor for Mark Cuban)

Daymond’s Fashionable Flavor Factory: Cake Mix Ice Cream with an explosion of Chocolate Candies

Do the Sharks take the bait?  You’ll have to watch to find out! 

We’ll update the blog post with how the appearance on Shark Tank has affected business after the rerun on January 25th!

See the hilarious videos of Vanilla Gift Giving gone wrong here. 

In celebration of creative gifts, we asked for the best stories of the worst in gift gifting.  We were not disappointed. Our inbox was filled with stories of Vanilla Gifts that are still haunting their recipients to this day and giving others a good laugh.  It was a very difficult choice but a deserving winner rose to the top.

We are pleased to announce our No More Vanilla Gifts Winner:

Patricia R. from Westford, MA.

eCreamery’s Grand Prize Winner, Patricia! Patricia will receive a 12 Month Membership to the Flavor of the Month Club.

Here is her winning entry:  My Former Boss mailed me a Gift Card for Christmas. Nice, right?  It was a $5 Gift card for an electronics store. Still nice,  it is the thought that counts.   But she had stuffed the envelope with candy canes and pictures of her daughter (whom I had never met)  and forgot to put postage or a return address (at least I like to think she ‘forgot’)  so in the end the $5 gift card cost me almost $3 in postage. Merry Christmas!

For her grand prize, Patricia will be an eCreamery Flavor of the Month Member. For the next 12 months, we will ship Patricia a half gallon of the favorite flavors of her choice. 12 Months of delicious Ice Cream, Gelato or Sorbetto flavors shipped right to her doorstep! Patricia can choose from the selection of our best selling favorite flavors or choose to create her own custom flavor from the 30 flavors and 40 mix-ins on eCreamery.com. What a delicious deal. Congratulations Patricia!

Thank you to everyone who shared a Vanilla Gift story with us. We certainly appreciated each and every one. Each was strong evidence there is need to help others give new, exciting and thoughtful gifts. We at eCreamery Ice Cream and Gelato are here to do just that!

Remember, next time you need to send a very special, memorable gift, please think to “Say it with Flavor!” and visit us at eCreamery.com. Your recipient will be very glad that you did.

Here are some other gift giving stories gone wrong that made us cringe and laugh and wish we could send ice cream gifts to each of you!

• I once got 10 white handkerchiefs. No more runny noses I guess…  - Andrew

• Here’s vanilla gift giving at its worst! (Sorry mom)  it was my dads birthday and amongst his usual cologne, socks, underwear was a pair of jeans. He happened to recognize this particular pair of jeans. Why?  My dear mother had given him the exact same pair the year previous!  They had managed to make their way to the top of their closet where mom found them thinking she had purchased them recently and got rewrapped. How did he recognize a pair of jeans? Because the card she gave him the year before with the jeans was tucked in the fold.  The laugh we got was worth way more than this vanilla gift.  My dad would have loved your ice cream.      - Jessica 

• My friend gave his wife a video game system for her birthday as a way for them to spend more time together. She is no longer his wife. (that’s a true story) – Scott

• I ordered a beautiful flower arrangement for my mother-in-law for Mother’s Day.  Although she sounded a little funny when she called, she was very thankful.  The next day when we arrived at her home I understood her strange thank you.  Not only was the arrangement very small, some of the flowers were actually dead.  What a great way to say Happy Mother’s Day.  Is anyone ever really sure what they are getting when they order flowers?  - Evelyn

• Gave a bride a blender for her wedding gift… so did 8 other people :/    - Shawn

• One year my mom received a stuffed teddy bear dipped in vanilla wax.  My mom does not collect teddy bears so it did not fit into her decor at all.  She put it back in the box and left it to re-gift to someone else.  A couple years later when I decided to do my baby’s room in a teddy bear theme….yep it was re-gifted to me!  It was the most disgusting smell of vanilla I have ever smelled and it was the biggest dust collector!  It was trashed before the baby arrived….so my mom knowing I tossed it was apparently determined to make my babies room smell like vanilla….bought a vanilla scent oil ring to put on the lamp so when it warmed up it let off the odor or aroma of vanilla…..I hate vanilla!  - Kay

• My parents are bad gift-givers. An illustration:
  A few years ago for Christmas I received a gift bag from my mom containing about $5 worth in free items from a local bank, including:
  A note pad
  A plastic travel mug
  A staple remover (nothing to put the staples in, only to remove them)
  A pen
  A key ring
  A few other knick knacks
  I was 20 years old. I received no other gifts that year. Neither me nor my parents have ever banked at this bank.
  *sigh*
  Sometimes no gift at all is better than a bad gift. I’ll just take a card next time. – Mike

• My husband’s Grandma is known for giving odd/untimely gifts. During my bridal shower I received a shoe box full of naked barbie dolls, followed by a shoebox of hand stitched outfits for these naked barbie dolls. What does a 22-year-old (at the time) do with such a thing?  - Kam

Read all of the entries on eCreamery’s facebook page and be inspired to be a creative and thoughtful gift giver!

And be sure to watch our Vanilla Gift Giving Videos:

Our Delicious Gratitude to Martha!

We could not be more excited to be named a finalist in Martha Stewart’s American Made Entrepreneur Awards!  

Your vote would be very appreciated. You can vote daily from our homepage.  All of us at eCreamery would be thrilled to use the $10,000 prize money to increase production facilities beyond one machine and two extremely hard working chefs!

About the Contest:

The American Made Awards recognizes rising stars in a new generation of small-business owners. Ten American Makers will be selected by the Martha Stewart organization and One American Maker will be selected by votes from the public as the Audience Choice Award. The Choice Award winner will be honored at the American Made event in New York City, will appear in Martha Stewart Living magazine, and will receive $10,000 to further his or her business. Our custom made ice cream gifts are one of five small businesses from the Midwest selected as a finalist. 

eCreamery Custom Made Ice Cream & Gelato gifts are a finalist in Martha Stewart’s American Made Awards. Please vote today and everyday until Sept. 24th.

Voters can place a vote for eCreamery Ice Cream and Gelato from the eCreamery.com homepage or by visiting the contest at Marthastewart.com until Sept. 24th. eCreamery would very much appreciate votes to invest in a second ice cream machine and a much needed walk-in freezer!

Congratulations to all of the very talented finalists!  We could spend hours admiring all of the masterpieces Martha has collected.

Take a look at the very talented American Entrepreneurs on this U.S. map. 

Creamy delights and a giveaway, too!

This guest blog entry is from MSPI Mama, a blog dedicated to delicious MSPI friendly recipes.

One of the rites of summer that I always enjoyed as a child was the whole family piling into our rust-orange Ford LTD station wagon and driving to the edge of our tiny town to the lone drive-in hamburger joint. But we weren’t there for hamburgers. We wanted ice cream. Looking back at those memories, I know that there wasn’t anything special about those ice cream cones, but they were cold and creamy and they hit the spot on a hot summer’s night. Plus, it was a special activity for our family to do together, and now that I’m a mom, I covet those same opportunities with my kids.

 But, there’s a tiny problem: MSPI. All of us going for ice cream isn’t an option when a member of the family is on a dairy-free diet! But, my friends, I got to take ALL my kids (including my MSPI girl Caroline) to an ice cream parlor last week! It was such a joy to see my little Caroline digging into a cone of her own. And this wonderful memory was made possible by a wonderful little shop in the heart of Omaha’s historic Dundee called eCreamery!

In addition to wonderful, freshly made ice creams and gelatos, eCreamery makes MSPI-friendly sorbettos! And, holy cow, are they amazing! If you live in the Omaha area, you MUST go visit their shop. It’s located right on the corner of50th and Underwood. It is definitely worth the trip if you live on the outskirts of town, and you will not be disappointed. Every day they offer four flavors of MSPI-friendly sorbettos that are beyond amazing.

But you don’t have to live in Omaha to enjoy this fabulous product … the brilliant masterminds ateCreamery ship their fabulous creations nationwide!You get to pick your own custom flavors, they mix it up right in their store, pack it up (on dry ice!) and ship it out their door. It comes to your doorstep icy cold and ready to enjoy. How awesome is that?! You can even have a custom label made. (They gave me a pint of “Andrea’s Pick Me Up” … decadent chocolate sorbetto. Yum!) You can order one of their Special Occasion Gift Packs or Create Your Own Flavor with fun mix-ins … just make sure they’re MSPI-friendly. There are so many options! You can even get cute little Individual Party Cups. Wouldn’t that be ADORABLE for a first birthday party?!

Giveaway Lowdown

One of you is going to be the lucky recipient of a New Baby Sampler Pack of Sorbetto – plus free shipping. The winner will receive FOUR pints of eCreamery’s cool and tangy MSPI-friendly sorbettos:

• “Welcome Sweet Baby” – Lemon
• “2am Feeding Fuel” – Raspberry
• “New Mommy Sweet Treat” -Passion Fruit
• “Naptime Nosh” – Coconut

The New Baby Sampler Pack includes 4 delicious dairy free sorbetto flavors. Shipped right to your doorstep.

How to Enter
To enter the giveaway, all you have to do is leave a comment here on the MSPI Mama blog post, telling me which of the sorbetto flavors you are most excited to try. Also, make sure you leave an email, so that I can contact you if you are the big winner!

The giveaway will close at noon (CDT) on Thursday, May 17, 2012. I’ll randomly pick a winner from all the entries and contact the winner. (Make sure you leave an email!)

 

Extra Credit
Increase your chances of winning by doing a few things. For every one you do, leave an extra comment below saying what you did. (If you already do any of these things, that counts. Just leave a comment for it.) That means you have the potential of leaving a total of five comments! 

1. Like MSPI Mama on Facebook.
2. Like eCreamery on Facebook.
3. Subscribe to MSPI Mama blog posts either through an RSS feed or via email.
4. Subscribe to eCreamery’s blog.

Rules

1. No duplicate comments.
2. Please be honest. If you leave an extra comment saying you subscribed to my blog, and then I find out you didn’t, I’ll be super sad. We want to keep it fair!
3. This giveaway is open to US Residents ages 18 or older. The prize must be shipped to an address (no P.O. box) within the 48 contiguous states. Sorry, shipping frozen treats to international addresses isn’t going to happen!
4. The winner will be selected via random draw and will be notified by e-mail. You have 72 hours to get back to me, otherwise a new winner will be selected.

Good luck, everyone! Regardless of whether you win or not, please check outeCreamery! They are beyond amazing!

 

The Fine Print: I received three pints of eCreamery’s sorbettos for my family to try. Regardless, the thoughts and opinions expressed here are purely my own.

Allergy Warning from eCreamery: Peanuts, other nuts, dairy, soy, wheat/gluten and other common allergens are used at eCreamery. Although we strive to keep these items separate, it is impossible to guarantee that your eCreamery creation will be free of these ingredients.

Sorbetto Base Ingredients: Purified Water, Granulated Sugar, Dextrose, Corn Syrup Solids, Palm Oil, Modified Food Starch, Tri-Calcium Phosphate, Mono and Diglycerides, Microcrystalline Cellulose, Guar Gum, Maltodextrin, Polysorbate 80, Cellulose Gum, Carrageenan, Sodium Alginate.

Creator of "Sinfully Sweet," Ice Cream Winner, Tanzida Z., Arizona Student

The Winning Flavor:

Sinfully Sweet

Base:     Gelato

Flavor 1:      Cheesecake

Flavor 2:      Dulce de Leche

Mixin 1:        Graham Cracker Crust

Mixin 2:       Macadamia Nuts

“I’m so excited to share this delicious sweet treat with all of my friends!  Hopefully it’ll ease the pain of finals.”

How does the contest work?

Design your own flavor on eCreamery.com and enter it to win by getting the highest number of Facebook “likes”.   To enter, visit the “Create Your Own Flavor”  tab to create your own delicious creation in four easy steps.

Sinfully Sweet: Cheesecake & Dulce de Leche Gelato

After your entry is approved, share it with friends to gain “likes” or votes! Five new winners will be selected throughout the year based on the total number of votes and will receive a free order of the flavor!

 Keep your recipe entries coming!  We will send another lucky, high vote getting winner a free custom order soon!

See all of  the creative and inspiring flavor entries here.*

* Each time a new winner is selected, we’ll start the contest fresh!  All previous vote counts and  entries will be removed from the contest.  Click here to Enter!

Take care of everyone on your list by choosing 4 or 8 different flavors from our “Pick Your 4 Pack” section and personalize the title of each pint.  Give someone special  ”Scoops of Thanks”,  ”Teacher’s Sweet Treat,” or “World’s Best Coach” in your choice of bestselling flavors.

Or want to ship a “Thank You” or “Congratulations” Sampler Set of 4 delicious flavors? See our Special Occasion collections of flavors, each titled for the specific occasion and  say it with Flavor!

Place your order before noon on a Monday and your order will be at your doorstep by Wednesday.

Order by noon on a Wednesday and your ice creams will arrive by Friday!

Send Sweet Appreciation with a Personalized Gift Pint for a Coach or Teacher!

The names were:

Snips & snails & puppy dog tails, that’s what little boys are made of.

Bouncing Baby Boy Smith

Daddy Mike’s Sidekick!

*real first and last name was changed. 

She then asked if we had ever put ultrasound pictures on our ice cream labels.  We had not but we wanted to give it a try.  I have always heard that they distinguish the gender by examining internal body parts so I wondered what exactly she was going to email me.

For her 4th pint label we added an ultrasound picture.

It's A Boy, For Sure!! Gender Reveal Ultrasound Image

Thanks for revealing to us that there are always new things to say with eCreamery Customized Ice Cream Gifts.

eCreamery is thrilled to be a part of the many special occasions in people’s lives and now with gender reveal parties/announcements becoming a common part of the new baby trend, we want to be a part of this too!! You plan the party and we’ll ship you the Gender Reveal Ice Cream Sampler Pack.  Another great idea is to send the gender reveal ice cream as an announcement.  Sometimes here at eCreamery, we know their gender before their Grandparents! If Grandma and Grandpa live far away you can still make the Gender Reveal special.  Send them an eCreamery Gender Reveal Ice Cream Sampler Pack to let them know who is on the way!

We have an, “It’s a Boy!”, Gender Reveal Ice Cream Sampler which includes the following:

• “We’re having a Boy!” - Chocolate Cake with Fudge Swirls and Brownie Bites
• “Boy, are we excited!” - Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cups
• “Bouncing Baby Boy” - Vanilla with Chocolate Chips & Cookie Dough
• “Boy’s Rock” - Mint with Oreos
  

  "It's A Boy!" Ice Cream Gender Reveal Ideas

And of course we have an, “It’s a Girl!”, Gender Reveal Ice Cream Sampler.  It includes:

• “We’re having a Girl!” - Chocolate Cake with Fudge Swirls and Brownie Bites
• “Sweet Baby Girl” - Peanut Butter Ice Cream with Peanut Butter Cups
• “Just a Little Girl Talk” - Vanilla with Chocolate Chips & Cookie Dough
• “Girl Power!” - Mint with Oreos

"It's A Girl" Gender Reveal Ice Cream

If you want to get really creative we can customize your pints, your message, even your flavor!  That’s what we’re about at eCreamery, customized Ice Cream & Gelato gifts.  If you know the baby’s name and want to reveal that, too?  No problem.  We are happy to help with customization and making your Gender Reveal as special as that sweet little someone.

We call it “Love Potion #99″.  We tried 98 times to find the right ice cream that will make you fall in love.  This is it!

Red Velvet Cake Ice Cream with Cream Cheese Frosting

We can’t just show you one shot of this terrific flavor.  You have to take another look.  We have been selling out in the TO GO case almost nightly.

Eat your heart out!