2006.11.27: November 27, 2006: Headlines: COS - Morocco: Small Business: Ice Cream: Environment: Organic Food: North Bay Business Journal: Morocco RPCV Neal Gottlieb will open his second Three Twins earth-friendly organic ice cream shop in Napa's Oxbow Public Market
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2006.11.27: November 27, 2006: Headlines: COS - Morocco: Small Business: Ice Cream: Environment: Organic Food: North Bay Business Journal: Morocco RPCV Neal Gottlieb will open his second Three Twins earth-friendly organic ice cream shop in Napa's Oxbow Public Market
Morocco RPCV Neal Gottlieb will open his second Three Twins earth-friendly organic ice cream shop in Napa's Oxbow Public Market
Mr. Gottlieb graduated from Cornell University, did time in the Peace Corps in Morocco and knew he wanted to open an organic food store of some sort. Mr. Gottlieb operates the store with as little waste as possible. Nearly everything he gives to customers can be disposed of as compost. His ice cream dishes are made from sugar cane, his spoons from potatoes, his milkshake cups from corn that looks and feels just like plastic. Not even the stale ice cream cones go to waste. Because they're certified organic, the leftovers feed a local rancher's organically fed chickens. He offsets emissions by purchasing green certificates and donates 1 percent of sales to organic causes.
Morocco RPCV Neal Gottlieb will open his second Three Twins earth-friendly organic ice cream shop in Napa's Oxbow Public Market
Organic ice cream entrepreneur to open in Napa, talking with stores
Monday, November 27, 2006
BY LINDSAY RIDDELL
STAFF REPORTER
SAN RAFAEL – A neighborhood organic ice cream business, brainchild of a 28-year-old entrepreneur, is about to take off.
Neal Gottlieb, 28 – owner, founder and ice cream maker – will open his second Three Twins earth-friendly organic ice cream shop in Napa's Oxbow Public Market in September 2007 and says he will begin distributing pints from his San Rafael shop to local grocery stores within months.
"Food buyers from five different stores have come to us and now it's just a matter of telling them we're ready," Mr. Gottlieb said.
Mr. Gottlieb graduated from Cornell University, did time in the Peace Corps in Morocco and knew he wanted to open an organic food store of some sort. After attending a green conference that showcased new technologies for food packaging, Mr. Gottlieb decided on ice cream. The Three Twins name is reflective of his family ties: Mr. Gottlieb has a twin brother who also married a twin.
He took a five-day ice cream making class in New York before opening his first retail store, tucked behind Scotty's Market in San Rafael, in August 2005. He opened the store with $100,000 and one freezer, three days after he made his first batch of ice cream with the equipment he'd purchased.
Now Mr. Gottlieb has 70 certified organic flavors including, Butternut Squash, Mint Confetti with real organic dark chocolate and Cookie Jar, which includes four types of organic cookies "so every bite is different," he said.
Mr. Gottlieb says he has at least 60 more flavors he expects will win organic certification as soon as he can catch up on the paperwork.
He makes about 100-150 gallons per week.
Mr. Gottlieb operates the store with as little waste as possible. Nearly everything he gives to customers can be disposed of as compost. His ice cream dishes are made from sugar cane, his spoons from potatoes, his milkshake cups from corn that looks and feels just like plastic. Not even the stale ice cream cones go to waste. Because they're certified organic, the leftovers feed a local rancher's organically fed chickens. He offsets emissions by purchasing green certificates and donates 1 percent of sales to organic causes.
He also sells ice cream wholesale to local restaurants and hotels. Two 2.5 gallon buckets equal a batch and go for $55 and up depending on the flavor.
The head chef of the Olema Inn and Restaurant in Olema in coastal rural Marin said Three Twins Ice Cream was "an instant hit." The restaurant serves a pumpkin sundae using Three Twins' pumpkin flavor, coffee Three Twins with chocolate cake, and an ice cream trio that includes Allspice, Cardamom and Nutmeg Three Twins flavors. The restaurant serves Rose Petal flavor Three Twins on anniversaries.
"We're an organic restaurant and there's really not a lot of people out there doing 100 percent organic ice cream," said Olema Inn chef Ed Vigil. "It's just a really great product made by someone who really cares."
Mr. Gottlieb expects his sole ice cream machine can handle about 1,500 pints per week before he'd need to invest in new equipment. "Freezer space is the lowest common denominator right now," he said.
He envisions eventually owning a factory, like Ben & Jerry's, where people can come for tours and tastings.
"I look at this as picking up where they left off," he said of the former ice cream makers who were the first to use environmentally friendly packaging and refused to use milk from cows given growth hormones.
The new Three Twins in Napa will take up shop with more than 20 other retailers in the Oxbow Public Market and will occupy a 391-square foot space. Mr. Gottlieb also plans to rent storage space in the public market's annex building.
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Headlines: November, 2006; Peace Corps Morocco; Directory of Morocco RPCVs; Messages and Announcements for Morocco RPCVs; Small Business; Environment; Organic Food; California
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Story Source: North Bay Business Journal
This story has been posted in the following forums: : Headlines; COS - Morocco; Small Business; Ice Cream; Environment; Organic Food
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