Rolled Ice Cream Fans are Falling in Love with Cold Stone Creamery

Iconic ice cream franchise is winning new customers searching for rolled ice cream

Rolled ice cream, a popular new dessert trend that’s becoming an American favorite, is bringing searching fans to Cold Stone Creamery® stores. As they hunt for the Thai street food dessert, however, they become Cold Stone fans instead. Once customers taste Cold Stone ice cream and discover the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience® we’re famous for, they forget their original quest and return to Cold Stone for more.

Now is the time to open a Cold Stone Creamery franchise in your community — when public interest is high in this trendy dessert. A Cold Stone Creamery ice cream store is uniquely positioned to convert rolled ice cream searchers into loyal customers.

What is rolled ice cream?

“Our franchisees are seeing an uptick in the requests for rolled ice cream in their stores,” says John Wuycheck, Senior Vice President of Franchise Development with Cold Stone Creamery. “We offer a couple of similarities to rolled ice cream: both are prepared on a frozen surface and can be customized to order with a variety of mix-ins. Those characteristics compel customers to give Cold Stone a try, but once they taste our premium ice cream, they’re not interested that much in rolled ice cream anymore.”

Pheng Vang, owner of two Thai rolled ice cream parlors, described the popular dessert on National Public Radio’s “The Splendid Table”: “Thai rolled ice cream — also known as stir-fried ice cream — is a global phenomenon. …  This unique style of ice cream is not pulled from frozen buckets by the scoop, instead its liquid base is poured onto a frozen pan and then chopped, mixed, spread and rolled right in front of you.”

With the public’s heightened interest in rolled ice cream, now is a great time to join Cold Stone Creamery franchise. As consumers look for the unique, new dessert, they’ll likely discover Cold Stone and become devoted lifelong fans.

Cold Stone Creamery pioneered ice cream customization

When it comes to unique, made-to-order ice cream desserts, no other brand offers customers what Cold Stone does. Our super-premium ice cream is made fresh in over 1,000 locations in the United States, and in hundreds of other locations around the world. Customers can dream up their own ice cream treats, or choose from our wildly popular Cold Stone Signature Creations™.

“Cold Stone Creamery is unique in the ice cream franchise space, because we make our ice cream in-house,” says Dr. Maya Warren, Tastemaster™ with Cold Stone Creamery. “When our customers come to us, they’re getting ice cream that has been made for them in that very store. Our product is exceptional, and that is evident in the fact that millions of people around the world love the experience they get at their local Cold Stone Creamery — and that number grows every day.”

The Cold Stone Creamery menu is vast, which is one of the many reasons our brand’s customers love us. For starters, Cold Stone Creamery has 10 to 12 ice cream varieties to choose from, including Cake Batter Ice Cream®, Sweet Cream, Coffee, Cheesecake, and many more. Cold Stone Creamery stores offer seasonal favorites, as well as ice cream flavors that appeal to certain regions, such as Irish Cream or Cinnamon Bun, creating a local feel for every Cold Stone Creamery-loving community.

Then there are the mix-ins. Guests can choose everything from SNICKERS®, gummy bears, brownies, cake, fresh fruit, REESE’S® Peanut Butter Cups — the list goes on and on. Can’t decide? We offer our own tried-and-true Cold Stone Signature Creations™, such as Birthday Cake Remix™.

“For our brand’s customers, the possibilities are endless,” says Dr. Maya Warren, Tastemaster™ with Cold Stone Creamery.

Open a franchise with Cold Stone Creamery

The Cold Stone Creamery® ice cream franchise has captivated the sweet tooth of customers around the world, and it continues to be a bright brand in the $13 billion ice cream industry, according to IBIS World. Doing business for 30 years, Cold Stone® has become a national institution, beloved for offering the Ultimate Ice Cream Experience®. Our brand’s super-premium ice cream is made fresh in over 1,000 locations in the United States, and in hundreds of other locations around the world.

A Cold Stone Creamery franchise is designed to be easy to run and easy to scale. Our franchisees come to us with a passion for ice cream, an enthusiasm for our product and the desire to be a positive, meaningful force in their communities — and we teach them the rest.

No prior experience in the restaurant or retail industry is required. We provide a total of 120 hours of initial training, and our ongoing training continues throughout a franchisee’s tenure with us. Cold Stone Creamery helps with everything from marketing to PR, to the development of business plans, to new and fresh products, to ongoing coaching and franchisee support.

The total investment estimate for a Cold Stone Creamery ice cream franchise ranges from $50,200 to $467,525. Cold Stone Creamery is an affordable franchise concept, and more importantly, it has a proven business model that has helped hundreds of entrepreneurs realize their potential of small business ownership while bringing the joy of artisanal, premium ice cream to their communities.

This is the year to join Cold Stone Creamery

Even though we have over 1,000 stores in the United States and are in nearly 30 international markets, we still have optimal territory available for you to open your own ice cream franchise.

We want to grow the brand with great people who embrace Cold Stone, are excited about our product, and most importantly, passionate about customer service.

While we are actively targeting several areas for growth — Nashville, Tennessee; Dallas-Fort Worth, Houston and Austin, Texas; and upstate New York — we know there are still a lot of places in the United States that are underserved for great ice cream. We have numerous territories available from coast to coast.

Learn more about Cold Stone Creamery franchise

Seize the opportunity to appeal to fans of rolled ice cream, and open a Cold Stone Creamery now. Once customers taste our delicious product and enjoy a delightful customer experience, they’ll forget all about their original quest.

For in-depth details about the Cold Stone Creamery franchise opportunity, download the free franchise report. You also can learn more by visiting the Cold Stone Creamery franchise research pages.