Pierre's Ice Cream opens new $9.2 million production facility in Cleveland

Pierre's Ice Cream Co. officially opened its $9.2 million ice cream factory on Monday morning, inviting visitors to taste freshly churned French vanilla ice cream and Hola Fruta! pomegranate and blueberry sherbet straight off the production line.

The 35,000-square-foot addition to its corporate offices and distribution center has already doubled Pierre's capacity, with extra room to grow. Equipped with state-of-the-art computerized ice cream-making machines, the expansion enables Pierre's to better control its production, mix-ins and sanitation processes, automating tasks previously done by hand. Inside the factory, workers monitor gleaming stainless steel equipment as a half-mile-long conveyer belt carries freshly made ice cream spiraling up and down an 18-foot-tall silo freezer and delivers it to the adjacent warehouse rock-hard.

The warehouse, kept at a frosty 25 degrees below zero, can hold 36 million scoops of ice cream, frozen yogurt, sherbet and sorbet. The previous 1920s-era factory, located more than 600 feet away, required workers to flash freeze the ice cream and truck it across the parking lot to the warehouse.President and Chief Executive Shelley Roth said the new building also conserves water and energy, reduces waste and makes Pierre's more competitive. All 85 workers had to take on new tasks and learn to operate new equipment.

"We are all excited about our new home, with our new kitchen and our new equipment," she said. "With this factory, we have the tools to make the most delicious ice cream anywhere right here in Cleveland, Ohio."

Recalling her late father, Sol Roth, she said in a quivering voice: "In case you were wondering what he would be thinking today, his voice is saying: 'Are you crazy? What do you think you're doing? "Do you know how much ice cream you'll have to sell to pay for this?'"The City of Cleveland contributed $6.9 million in low-interest loans, and Cuyahoga County gave a $60,000 grant. Pierre's isn't the only Ohio ice cream company that's expanding.

• Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams, a Columbus brand founded in 2002, opened its first Northeast Ohio ice cream shop to long lines in Chagrin Falls on April 15. "Our ice creams have been so overwhelmingly well received at our Chagrin Falls shop that we have to consider opening up others in and around Cleveland," said Jeni Britton Bauer, president and founder of Jeni's.

"We have received a number of requests to open a shop on the West Side of Cleveland. We are flattered by the attention, and we are considering ways to make that happen."Jeni's, whose best-selling flavor is Salty Caramel, is also sold at local stores, including Heinen's Fine Foods, Whole Foods Market, Constantino's Market, Miles Farmers Market, Nature's Bin and Pat O'Brien's Fine Wines & Gourmet Foods.

• Mitchell's Homemade Ice Cream, which makes its ice creams and sorbets at its Rocky River store and sends it to stores Beachwood, Solon and Westlake, just opened a summer location at Huntington Beach in Bay Village. Mitchell's is also sold at Zagara's Marketplace, West Point Market in Akron, Heinen's stores and in dozens of restaurants. Co-owner Pete Mitchell said he and his younger brother, Mike, are also scouting locations for ice cream shops in Avon and Strongsville. "We hope to move our kitchen to a new, bigger location in Cleveland in the next year," he said via e-mail.

• Honey Hut Ice Cream, with stores in Cleveland, Brecksville, Strongsville and Parma, just opened a store at Edgewater Park. W. Benoy Joseph, associate dean and professor of marketing at Cleveland State University's Nance College of Business Administration, said that despite our greater awareness of fat, calories and the need to eat healthier, sales of super premium ice creams have continued to surge.

He compares the trend to our growing taste for luxury foods such as fine wines, imported cheeses, single-malt liquors and gourmet chocolates. "There are people who drive across town -- and pass other brands -- to buy Mitchell's Chocolates in Cleveland Heights," he said. People tend to justify such indulgences by saying "if we're going to eat something rich once in a while, we might as well get the good stuff."