Owowcow Creamery looking to expand into retail sales
Ice cream would be in select stores
Owowcow Creamery — known for its hand-crafted, small-batch artisan ice cream made from locally sourced ingredients — is looking to expand into retail.
But the Bucks County company isn’t looking to have its ice cream and treats sold in just any retailer.
The company wants to team up with retailers who also share their passion for supporting local agriculture and growers and want a portion of the sales of their pints, pops and other treats to help combat food insecurity.
“We are looking to expand our business in a way we never have before,” said Shira Tizer Wade, Owowcow’s managing director. “And we are wanting to address a significant problem in our community.”
Owowcow sources all the ingredients used in its ice cream and frozen treats from local farms, including Traugers (Kintnersville, Bucks County), Blue Moon Acres (Buckingham, Bucks County, and Pennington,
New Jersey), Manoff Orchards (New Hope, Bucks County), and Barefoot Botanicals (Doylestown, Bucks County).
Consider: Annually, Owowcow goes through more than 10,000 gallons of organic cream, more than 171,000 local cage-free eggs and 450 gallons of local raw honey, among other ingredients. They want to find retailers who share that commitment to sourcing locally and support farmers.
“We are not looking to be in a supermarket,” Wade said. “We want be in retailers that share our sensibility and are really community-focused.”
Wade said they have had opportunities to open more ice cream shops but decided not to expand more in that direction. Owowcow currently has five ice cream shops, including in Easton.
Their plan for retail is to sell pints and ice cream popsicles as well as possibly sell bulk containers of ice cream for hand-dipping by the retailers.
“This is the first time we are opening up to the possibility of retail,” Wade said. “It’s a big pivot for us.”
The other part of their retail-expansion plan is that they want a portion of new sales to benefit Rolling Harvest Food Rescue, a nonprofit that works with farmers and food producers to distribute fresh, healthy produce and organic meats to food-insecure communities.
Headquartered in New Hope, Rolling Harvest volunteers collect produce from farm partners and distribute weekly to more than 80 hunger relief sites in and around Bucks County. Rolling Harvest also hosts nutritional education classes and instructs how to cook and to best use the fresh food they receive.
Through the process of sourcing all their ingredients locally, Wade said they got to know the leaders at Rolling Harvest as well as the work they do to bring fresh food to those who need it.
“We are always traveling in the same circles,” she said. “So we started talking about this idea.”
Wade said they don’t have a target amount yet for what portion of the sales would benefit Rolling Harvest as the plans are in the infant stage.
“We are really excited to work together,” Wade said. “They [Rolling Harvest] are doing incredible things.”