Off to a slow start this season or as far as the weather goes

Here in NJ it has been cold, wet and gray for many recent days.  Not something to complain about when you consider the flooding, hurricane and earth quake tragedies of the recent past for many countries.  Overall the weather has been very outspoken to say the least.

Sales of Italian Ice and Ice Cream are very affected by the weather, as you can imagine. When the weather is a tough go, you would think that people would stick to warmer comfort foods like soup, stews and pies.  For the most part this seems to be true when considering Ice Cream parlors, you know the neighborhood ice cream shop you love to go to during the warmer months but rarely visit during the colder weather.

Interestingly, grocery store frozen desserts seem to maintain a steady sales ratio throughout the winter months, during a typical winter.  My guess is that people like to “get happy” and treat themselves, to the warmer weather treats they love, on hand at home. 

Reaching into the freezer and relaxing with a bowl of your favorite summer dish, provides a much needed break from the weather outside, allowing people to bask in the delights of the warmer weather, right from the comfort and warmth of their home.

So in the short term, while we wait this weather out stock up on your favorite frozen dessert and enjoy.

An Update: POAC Walk for a Difference

Well the day was a bit cooler than we here at the world’s best Italian ice would prefer, but it was a major hit for everyone.  We arrived at 10:30 with enough all natural Italian ice for 600-700 people and left at 3:00 with no Italian ice left, I’d say the day was a hit.  Congratulations to the local POAC for raising over 90k during this year’s event. 

Tasty Support for the POAC walk this weekend

Looking forward to this weekend….we are very excited to kick off the 2011 season by offering our support to the local POAC Walk.  Like last year we are getting ready to attend the walk this weekend with free samples of our all natural Italian ice for the walkers and other supporters.  We look forward to these events as it gives us a chance to lend our product and our passion to a worthy cause. 

Thankfully this opportunity gives us something enjoyable in a period of work and business related stresses.  As with any business, it is work and stress.  We have a lot to do to prepare inventory, plan promotions and identify budgets (the budget that is the really fun part..lol) 

We are constantly reminded that this industry (manufacturer of grocery items)is not for the faint of heart.  It is a tough and often very ambiguous industry.  The powers that be (those who distribute and retail your product ) they generally like, small local brands with niche consumer focus, but often would like you to run promotions like the large national brands.  Brands a small local natural producer like us could never compete with.  It is tough to grow when you are a small brand.

Anyway, we will keep pushing forward as we strive to make the world a tastier place one Italian Ice at a time.  Keep your fingers crossed for great weather this weekend and a wonderful turnout for the POAC walk.  To learn more about POAC please visit http://www.poac.net

Ok so here we are March 7, 2011 and spring is just around the corner. Woo-hoooo! Good-bye winter, see ya later snow!

 I’m extra excited about this upcoming season, because we are starting production of our new inventory.  It is going to be great! I wish it were in the freezer already. 

We made some great improvements to the packaging so we can’t wait to get it on shelf.  We have enhanced the colors on the pints, added a safety seal and made the product highlights easier to find.  Information like, Gluten and dairy free, Vegan and cholesterol free are now on the front and side of the package so it is easy for consumers to find what is important to them.  We have also upgraded to Kof-K kosher, so now people who look for Kof-K Kosher foods can enjoy our product as well.  

We are also adding a bunch of new locations to the list…but I can’t share the scoop on those yet as we are still negotiating space.  For now you can always find us online and in the Whole Foods stores in the North East.  More to come very...very ...soon

The Scoop on Napoli Boys

Well, here it is our first blog.  We are blessed to have a wonderful fan base and felt that it was time to get out here and share a bit about ourselves, what we love, why we love it.  Through this blog we plan to share some interesting (hopefully sometimes, useful information) and along the way make new friends

We love, among many other things, great food.  We created our all natural Italian ice, in our ice cream store in Belford NJ.  Since 1999 we have been crafting homemade ice cream and Italian ice and selling in up and down the Jersey Shore.  We saw a need in the marketplace for a NY style Italian ice that is made from all natural fruit without all of the yucky stuff.   So we decided to create really cool (pun intended) pints of our ice and offer them through really cool (again -pun intended) retail outlets like Whole Foods . 

A lot of people ask about our name, so here is the scoop (get it scoop..ah yes.. we are on a roll with the puns today).  The Napoli Boys (that is Napoli Boys, not Napoli Brothers as we are sometimes referred to) name came from the owner Michael, whose father used to belong to a “club” in the Bronx, back in the 50s, called(…drumroll….) “The Napoli Boys”.  Michael thought the name was catchy and a good way to honor his father’s youthful days, so he named his first Ice Cream store “Napoli Boys”.  The name stuck and three stores latter it became a favorite on the Jersey Shore. 

As it turns out, the Napoli Boys today are not boys at all.  We are a husband and wife team surrounded by a few great employees, family and friends, and of course a wonderfully loyal fan base (with great taste- we might add).  We have recently blessed with a baby boy so now the team has grown by one.  We plan to teach him everything we know about creating great food, in case he decides to follow in his father’s passion.

Speaking of passion, Michael the owner has over 20 years experience as a culinary expert.  He has poured his soul into this product and takes great pride in the positive feedback people have shared over the years.  If you want to hook up with us and keep in touch please “friend us” on Facebook at www.facebook.com/napoliboys or on twitter at http://twitter.com/Napoliboys, then there is always our wonderful website http://www.napoliboys.com

As we move into another great summer season we plan to post tid- bits regarding our journey and information that we hope you will find as useful and enjoyable as our product.  Most of all we hope to hear from you as well, please feel free to reach out to us with suggestions or product reviews.  

We really look forward to your feedback as we work to make the world a cooler and tastier place!

The Napoli Boys