While Nightingale Ice Cream considers itself a small-batch ice cream sandwich brand, it is far from small – the company’s retail footprint continues to grow with its recent launch in select Target stores across the Northeast region, Denver and Dallas, among others.
The brand’s broadened distribution – more than 5,550 retailers – includes Whole Foods in the Midwest, Southwest, Rocky Mountains and Florida and more than 2,400 Kroger stores, among others like Costco, The Fresh Market and Harris Teeter.
“Each of those retailers has helped us reach a different kind of consumer and refine different parts of our business,” said Hannah Pollack, CEO, president and co-founder of Nightingale Ice Cream.
‘A natural next step’
Pollack describes the Target launch as a “natural next step” for the retailer’s consumers who are “curious, design-forward and intentional about what they buy” aligning with Nightingale’s “elevated nostalgia” story.
“Target has been on our wish list from day one,” said Pollack.
With Nightingale’s “cult following” via its grocery, retail and DTC business, the brand’s Target roll out is “further cementing its place in the premium ice cream category,” Pollack added.
To meet demand for a growing retail distribution, Pollack notes that maintaining quality is imperative.
“That’s the core of everything for us. Growth doesn’t mean losing our soul – it means finding new ways to express it,” she emphasized.
For the brand, this means continuing to bake its cookies from scratch and to churn ice cream in small batches.
“Scaling up has just meant building better systems to protect that process, not replace it. Our team takes a lot of pride in knowing that every sammy that leaves our doors still carries the same quality and intention as the ones we sold at farmers markets years ago,” Pollack said.
Building up a Richmond, Va., production and business hub
Nightingale’s small-batch ice cream production is supported by a $5.8 million investment from the Virginia Economic Development Partnership to build a production facility and corporate headquarters in Richmond, Va., announced in May.
The construction is expected to create 166 new jobs, according to VEDP.
“What began in the kitchen of a Richmond restaurant has grown into something beyond what we ever imagined,” Pollack said. “Receiving this support from the Commonwealth is an incredible honor and a powerful vote of confidence in our vision.”
Tapping into premium ice cream trends
The husband-and-wife duo launched Nightingale Ice Cream in 2016 to create non-GMO ice cream sandwiches made with 14% butterfat ice cream sandwiched between freshly baked cookies – in addition to being free from artificial ingredients and dyes, according to the company.
The growing premium and artisanal ice cream segment – representing roughly 38% of the $14.85 billion US ice cream and frozen desserts market and expanding at about 15% year-over-year – is driven by consumers trading up for experience, quality and innovation in flavors, textures and formats, according to Intel Market Research.
Nightingale’s four-pack ice cream sandwiches deliver on the segment’s trends, particularly with flavors and textures like Brookie Dough, Cookie Monster, The Classic, Strawberry Shortcake and Chocolate Blackout.
