Ben Van Leeuwen, Pete Van Leeuwen, and Laura O'Neill started their ice cream business with a vision for high-quality, artisanal products.

• Sold 300 scoops on their first day in 2008, now serve over 40,000 customers on busy summer days.
• Focused on simple, high-quality ingredients like fat egg yolk, cream, and exotic flavors.
• Started with a single repurposed post office truck serving streets of New York City.

Ben Van Leeuwen's journey began with driving a Good Humor ice cream truck and evolved into crafting a business plan inspired by high-quality ingredients.

• Ben's early interest in business and ice cream led to the creation of Van Leeuwen Ice Cream.
• Developed first flavors in a shared Greenpoint apartment, with many trials to perfect the recipes.
• Struggled to raise initial capital but managed to start the business with $60,000.

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream began operations by outsourcing production and focusing on branding and location.

• Started with a small factory in upstate New York and retrofitted an eBay truck for sales.
• Created a strong brand aesthetic with a unique logo and flavor illustrations.
• Secured a permit, overcame challenges in finding the right location, and established a solid customer base.

After a successful start, Van Leeuwen quickly expanded with more trucks and eventually a brick-and-mortar store.

• Gained presence in Whole Foods within three months and operated three trucks by end of first summer.
• Opened first scoop shop in Brooklyn, which led to a shift away from trucks to stores.
• Continued to grow with new flavors, increased prices, and maintained a focus on quality.

Van Leeuwen secured investment to fuel growth, opened more scoop shops, and overhauled their brand identity.

• Raised $3.9 million from Strand Equity Partners in 2018, expanding the brand and corporate team.
• Pentagram refreshed pint designs, aligning with the company's ethos and philosophy.
• A $18.7 million funding round in 2020 supported further expansion and production.

Van Leeuwen employs innovative flavors and strategic marketing to expand brand awareness without traditional advertising.

• Introduced unique flavors like mac and cheese or ranch, which doubled as marketing tools.
• Most popular flavors include Honeycomb and brown sugar cookie dough chunk.
• Developed new products like ice cream sandwiches and expanded the team significantly.

Van Leeuwen has established nearly 50 scoop shops and is available in thousands of grocery stores nationwide.

• Operates nearly 50 scoop shops and available in almost 10,000 grocery stores, including Whole Foods and Walmart.
• Can generate up to $300,000 in revenue on a good day and serves tens of thousands of customers daily.
• Plans include opening more scoop shops in the US and the first international location in Singapore.