Cold, sweet and ready to eat — hold the chemicals!
The Natural Scoop, a vendor truck selling natural and healthy ice cream and other treats, is the joint venture of two Ridgefield moms, Carin Crook and Kirstin Cerulli.
The ah-ha! moment came several years ago when Crook and her family were visiting her parents on Cape Cod, and sought the enjoyment of a classic summer vacation moment by going to an ice cream truck.
Then Crook checked out the offerings.
“There wasn’t a single thing on it that didn’t have artificial colors, artificial flavors, high fructose corn syrup, hydrogenated oil,” Crook said.
“There was nothing even remotely real.”
With some food allergies to mind, the artificial treats weren’t what the family wanted.
“I knew that there had to be a better way. I wanted there to be a truck that parents could run to, instead of shielding their kids from,” she said.
“These trucks, there’s often not options for people with food allergies.”
“She just had this vision of this ice cream truck where everybody, regardless of dietary restrictions, could enjoy a treat,” said Cerulli, her partner in bringing the idea of a better way to the reality of a truck driving around Ridgefield, offering healthier summer treats.
“Our vision is every single person can get something,” Crook said. “”We have a nut-free option, dairy-free, gluten-free, egg-free, corn-free, soy-free, vegan option.
“And we have regular ice cream, too,” she said.
“Sometime people come up and say ‘I want good old-fashioned ice cream.’ ”
To the Natural Scoop ladies “good old-fashioned” means ice cream made from sugar that grew as cane, cream that came cows, vanilla from vanilla beans — hold the additives and chemicals.
The concept is working, they say.
“Parents come up to us all the time and say ‘Oh, my God, I can finally say ‘yes,’ ” Cerulli said.
While it has its healthier products approach, The Natural Scoop truck does the usual job of an ice cream truck — selling summertime treats that kids and grownups will want.
“We’ve had countless people come up to us and say ‘This is the best ice cream I’ve ever tasted,’” Crook said.
“Or, it reminded them of their childhood,” added Cerulli.
“The grandparents say that a lot: ‘I haven’t tasted ice cream like this since I was a kid.’”
Of course, it’s popular with families that have food allergies to be concerned about.
“We did ‘Kids Fest’ in Ballard Park. It was our first big event,” said Crook. “A family of four came up. One child had an allergy to gluten. We had a lot of options for him. Something unique that we have is a gluten-free ice cream sandwich.
“When we told him, his eyes lit up. His mom bought one, and they walked away,” she said.
“They came back 15 minutes later and his mom bought four to bring home. She’d never been able to get him something like that before.”
The partners point out that they don’t make the ice cream themselves. Like any ice cream truck, they have suppliers and they buy and resell products — only they seek out suppliers and products that are in tune with their all natural vision.
“There are so many great products that are already available,” Crook said.
“It’s Good Humor meets Whole Foods, on a truck,” she said.
“Our tag line is: ‘Way better cold stuff,’” said Cerulli.
Parks and pools
Their service is to bring the healthier treats around to places where families are out, kids are playing.
They have regular rounds.
“We go to parks, the rec center. Some camps invite us,” Crook said. “Pools — Westmoreland, Mimosa, Pleasantview Estates — Mamanasco and Twixt Hills beaches, the rec center playground and Ballard Park playground.”
The Natural Scoop truck is at Martin Park from 2 to 5 “almost every day” — the weather gets factored in, Crook said.
The Natural Scoop is also at the summer Tuesday and Thursday night concerts in Ballard Park.
“We do CHRIP,” Crook said.
They also do events and parties.
“Businesses have invited us to employee appreciation or customer appreciation events,” Crook said.
“We like to go where we’re invited,” Cerulli said. “We don’t like driving around aimlessly.”
People interested in The Natural Scoop truck may contact the partners at their email: BetterColdStuff@gmail.com
They’re also on Facebook at facebook.com/waybettercoldstuff and on Instagram at “thenaturalscoop.”
Friends first
The two women didn’t set out to be business partners.
“We were friends. We have daughters the same age,” Cerulli said. “Carin shared with me her idea. I was like ‘I can help you with that.’ I consider myself more a project manager than an entrepreneur. I could see the steps very clearly.”
Crook was interested.
“I’d been sharing my idea with people for seven years, at least,” she said.
“Knowing that I work full time, I teach yoga on the side, I have a family, there’s no way I could do this alone,” she said.
They think The Natural Scoop is an idea that will grow.
“The big big idea is that we are doing this in Ridgefield this summer to show it’s successful, but we want to create a franchise from this,” said Crook.
“So when you go to Cape Cod or anywhere else in the country, there’ll be a Natural Scoop truck and people can get treats they feel good about.”
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