la.foodblogging

ice cream cone

Originally uploaded by Sweet Lisa Jay.

Gosh, I didn’t know that bad stuff goes down in the O.C. The worst thing I ever saw happen was Mischa Barton throw a chaise lounge into a large, perfectly skimmed pool. Apparently, however, there’s a big turf war going on in the Southland between competitive ice cream vendors.

The area is a boiling hot bed of ice cream expansion because of its “dense population, especially families; strong disposable incomes; good weather; and a large number of people interested in buying franchises,” according to the Orange County Register. Furthermore, “there’s a certain cachet to ice cream that attracts business people who think it’s a fun product, and that leads to a tendency to overcrowding in the market,” said Jim Miller, dairy product expert at the U.S. Department of Agriculture.

Key combatants and their latest tactics include: Carvel, an East Coast icon, says it will return to Orange County with as many as 12 stores by the end of the year. Tastee-Freez, bought in 2003 by Newport Beach-based Galardi Group, says it’s setting up housekeeping in most existing Wienerschnitzel locations. Market leader Dairy Queen is testing new types of stores in other markets. Maggie Moo’s brings in its Holstein cow to promote its four new locations in Orange County in a side skirmish with Cold Stone Creamery and Marble Slab Creamery. All those battles are part of ice cream companies’ fight over a stagnant market. With U.S. ice cream consumption in a slow decline, someone has to lose.

This Tastee-Freez and Wienerschnitzel co-branding effort intrigues me, but, it also makes me a little ill:

Galardi Group bought Tastee-Freez in 2003 to place the sweet treat in its Wienerschnitzel restaurants to boost sales during hours when the hot dog business is slow, such as midafternoon and late at night, spokesman Tom Amberger said. “We think ice cream is very compatible with the Wienerschnitzel brand.” In Orange County, 33 Wienerschnitzel sites will be dishing up Tastee-Freez cones by mid-August, he said.

I know you Bruins love the Diddy Riese, but I tried to go there last week around 9PM, and the crowd was ridicimous. I can’t stomach the group singing and cheesey shout-outs in Cold Stone either. I’m praying for a Capogiro Gelato to open on the Left Coast, very near my house. Philly, can ya hear me callin’?