The system is marketed as taking shelf-stable, recyclable ice cream cones with different flavors and freezing them within about 90 seconds before pouring into a cup or cone. The company also works on pods for smoothies, frozen coffees, protein shakes, non-dairy ice creams and frozen cocktails, such as mud slices and daiquiris. The machine reads a QR code on top of the pod label to determine the specific freezing temperature for each product.
The product, which is only in the prototype stage and is planned to be launched in selected locations in the second quarter of 2021 and will be sent directly to consumers early next year, falls under the where has it been my whole life? category. But the price point is less sweet than the product: $ 1,000. (The company said it intends to reduce it by half in the end.)
Matthew Fonte, the series entrepreneur behind the product, said it was a big undertaking to create pods that were safe, convenient (little cleanup), cost-effective and sustainable; the pod containers are aluminum like a soda can. Keurig and other one-time manufacturers of pods have long been criticized for their inability to recycle their products.
“It is challenging and requires significant development and engineering expertise,” said Fonte, who holds a PhD in mechanical engineering from Tufts University. ‘In the beginning, many people did not think it was [scientifically] possible to create such an ice cream within about a minute. ‘
The company says that the machine simultaneously removes heat from the pod, which creates a cooling effect on the liquid ice cream mixture, and involves a component in the pod that processes the ingredients during the cooling process. Air is sucked into the can to make the required cage in the ice cream.
The idea started years ago when Fonte and his two daughters got tired of reading the same books before bedtime and decided to write in ‘inventive magazines’.
“We included new toys, toothbrushes and hoola hoops,” he told CNN Business. “One day they asked for an ice cream machine.”
He explained that ice machines for the home are usually not efficient; many require a bucket to be frozen overnight, is a constant mixing process and is a mess to clean up. “What about an Exquisite Ice Cream Machine?” asks one daughter.
The rest is strawberry.
Fonts’ background played an important role in initiating the process. He and his brother worked with their father, an Italian immigrant, in a metalworking industry for 20 years, manufacturing missile rocket casings for missiles. After selling the business, they resumed a focus on super-elastic orthopedic implants. His team from the company later left together to start ColdSnap.
“It was really nice with my daughters, who saw the whole beginning from the beginning of a company, the purchase of a 2500 m building, the acquisition of patents, and they have shares in the company,” he said. . “I explained how the investors are investing in us and how we can not let them down.”
The company has since grown to a team of 18 people. Despite the high price, Fonte said the company has “thousands” of people signing up to buy the product. “Sometimes we get notes on our website that say, ‘Hurry up. I need it.'”
ColdSnap, however, was originally intended for commercial spaces such as break rooms in offices, car dealerships and student associations. When Covid started earlier last year, the company focused again. Fonte said he intends to lower the price to $ 500 by switching to stainless steel parts for plastic fittings. The pods each cost $ 2.99 when they start.
Delicious spinoffs abound, ranging from legumes and legumes to legumes. ColdSnap claims that its product is a much cleaner play because of the recyclable aluminum pods that look like Red Bull cans and the process of keeping ice cold inside the trucks that transport it.
Judging by the enthusiastic response, it seems that people still want a product like this to become a reality. Fonte said U.S. interest is high, but he also sees opportunity in places like India and China where the cooling cold is uncomfortable and could benefit from a system like ColdSnap.
“We hope that maybe one day, in 20 years’ time, people will look back and say, ‘Do you remember when ice froze all the time? How crazy is that?’
Perhaps innovation is a dish best served cold.