Mr. Green Tea Ice Cream Company facts for kids
Mr. Green Tea Ice Cream Company is a family business that started in 1968. It was founded by Santo (Sam) Emanuele in Brooklyn, New York. This company makes special ice cream flavors like green tea, red bean, ginger, chai latte, and black sesame.
What Makes Mr. Green Tea Special?
Mr. Green Tea serves its unique ice cream to many fancy restaurants across the country. Some of these are famous Japanese restaurants, like Michelin-starred Sushi of Gari and Zagat "Top Ten" Sushi Yasuda.
Even famous people have enjoyed their ice cream! Martha Stewart served Mr. Green Tea at her holiday party in 2005. In 2009, it was a hit at parties during the Sundance Film Festival. The company has also been featured on radio shows like NJ 101.5 The Jersey Guys Show. They even won an award at the "94.3 The Points Dessert Wars."
Mr. Green Tea has changed the world of special ice creams. Santo Emanuele noticed that most ice cream was just vanilla. He had an idea to try new flavors. He saw that Japanese restaurants were becoming very popular. So, he decided to create flavors that would appeal to them. This was back in the 1970s. Later, other companies like Ben & Jerry's helped make unique ice cream flavors popular everywhere.
The Story Behind the Flavors
The company is named after its most famous flavor: green tea. Santo Emanuele created this flavor over forty years ago. He worked hard to get the recipe just right. He sold his green tea ice cream to Japanese restaurant owners. They helped him make it even better.
Santo had experience in the food business. He wanted to create new ice cream flavors for the growing number of Japanese restaurants in New York City. That's how he developed Green Tea, Red Bean, and Ginger ice cream. Today, Mr. Green Tea is run by the third generation of the family. They still make their special desserts by hand, using only natural ingredients.
In 2013, a businessman named Marcus Lemonis invested in the company. This helped Mr. Green Tea open a new, modern factory in New Jersey. This new facility allowed them to do more than just make ice cream. They can now help other food companies with things like packaging and making products.
Mr. Green Tea on TV!
On May 14, 2013, Mr. Green Tea was on the CNBC show Crowd Rules.
Marcus Lemonis, who stars in the CNBC show The Profit, saw the Mr. Green Tea family on Crowd Rules. He was very impressed and wanted them to be on his show. Marcus said he loved their family spirit. He also really loves ice cream! He called the TV network and asked if Mr. Green Tea could be one of the companies he looked at for The Profit.
This led to a partnership between Marcus Lemonis and Mr. Green Tea. The company was featured in the final episode of the first season of The Profit.
Marcus Lemonis helped the company make some big changes and grow even more. Since he helped them start making their products in their own factory, the company has become more profitable. Their sales have gone up by 50 percent. The company's value has also increased a lot. Marcus Lemonis is now connecting Mr. Green Tea with his other food businesses.
