After two months of closure, Jeni’s Splendid Ice Creams is ready to re-open their production kitchens. The company has been utilizing production facilities at Smith Dairy in Orrville, Ohio to produce some of their flavors and keep scoop shops partially stocked since mid-July, but has been unable to produce some of their more complex recipes without the use of their local kitchen facilities.
“Reopening the kitchen gives us a path back for some of our most popular flavors,” said Jeni’s Founder Jeni Britton Bauer. “Salty Caramel, Brambleberry Crisp, Goat Cheese with Red Cherries, Black Cat Espresso — all of these flavors have been missing from our menu.”
The production kitchen will resume operation tomorrow, though the local staff will focus entirely on the cleaning and preparation of fresh ingredients for ice cream recipes, as well as research and development of new flavors. Once the ingredients are prepared, they will be transported to Smith Dairy where they’ll be mixed in with milk and cream, and frozen into ice cream in their facilities before being distributed to stores across the country.
When Jeni’s halted local production operations, 40 employees were offered temporary jobs in scoop shops or severance packages. With the re-opening of the facilities, all 40 employees are being offered their jobs back.
“We couldn’t be more proud of the work the team has done to survive this summer,” says Jeni’s CEO John Lowe. “The team has shown tremendous resilience. We are happy to be able to invite back kitchen production team members. We struggled through, survived and are now building momentum.”
Lowe said that all batches of ice cream will be tested for Listeria and other bacteria at Smith Dairy, while a new Listeria control program has been put in place in the local production kitchens, which have tested negative for the past two months.
For more information, visit www.jenis.com.