The summer following his freshman year of college, Ben Van Leeuwen, co-founder of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream,needed a job After finding a Good Humor help wanted ad in a newspaper, his passion for ice cream was born.
Van Leeuwen quickly discovered the secret to running ice cream trucks. He parked the trucks at children’s sports games during the summer all over Greenwich, Connecticut. By the end of that season, he had earned enough money to take a gap year and travel the world. He visited East Asia and Europe over a period of nine months. While he was abroad, he began to understand that the quality of the ingredients made an enormous difference in the overall taste of the final product. He realized that he could take what he learned, and apply it to ice cream.
Once he returned, Van Leeuwen transferred from University of San Francisco to Skidmore College in Saratoga Springs, New York. During his next three years there, he took several business classes that would later help him in his endeavors.
After his graduation in 2007, Ben decided that he was going to start his own ice cream business using only the highest quality ingredients. He spent countless hours reconfiguring a recipe from Michelin Star chef Thomas Keller. Once he had perfected it, he partnered with his Brother, Pete Van Leeuwen, and his close friend, Laura O’ Neill, to figure out how to start Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
In order to get started, they needed enough money to buy one or two old trucks, fix them up, find some sort of manufacturing facility, and start a website. Their estimate for the whole project was somewhere around $250,000. Despite their efforts, they were able to collect $60,000 from friends and family, but it allowed them to buy two used post office trucks and convert them into the ice cream trucks they needed. The money did not cover the cost of a factory, but they were able to outsource their production to a small college in upstate New York. In 2008, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream trucks hit the roads.
Ben’s goal has always been to make his ice cream with only the highest quality ingredients. According to Ben,“That’s the only reason we’re here, because of that focus on product”. He has traveled the world to find the best source of vanilla, cocoa, strawberries, and every other ingredient that goes into making their products. This is indicated in his statement, “I can’t successfully be the CEO of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream from an office”.
In 2010, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream opened their first scoop shop in Brooklyn and before long hit $1 million in revenue. Two years later, they opened their factory in Greenpoint, Brooklyn. As time went on, they opened more stores around New York City before expanding into other states. Now, they have 71 stores in 10 different states, and are sold in 10,000 grocery stores across the country. They even have a scoop shop in Singapore.
In July of 2021, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream partnered with Kraft to create their first viral flavor: mac and cheese. The 6,000 pints sold out within an hour of its release. This sparked an idea for Ben. They began partnering with other companies to make unique flavors, including: Hidden Valley Ranch, Grey Poupon Mustard, and Idaho Potatoes, Malted Milkshake and Fries. Van Leeuwen is also popular for their celebrity flavors such as Sabrina Carpenter’s espresso flavor, Keith Haring’s raspberry, passion fruit and strawberry jam flavor, and Jean-Georges’ Sour Cherry Creamsicle.
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream went from a $60,000 startup to a $15 million company in only 15 years. With almost 25 new stores on the way in four new states, the company is quickly approaching their goal of 100 stores.
