The Icee Company facts for kids
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| Industry | Beverage |
|---|---|
| Founded | 1958 |
| Founder | Omar Knedlik |
| Headquarters | , |
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Key people
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Dan Fachner (CEO) |
| Products | Frozen soda, Italian ice |
| Brands | Icee, Slush Puppie |
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Number of employees
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>1000 (2020) |
| Parent | J & J Snack Foods |
The Icee Company is an American company that makes super cool frozen drinks! You might know their main product, the Icee (which looks like ICEE). It's a frozen carbonated beverage that comes in many fruit and soda flavors.
Icee also makes other frozen treats, like Italian ice pops. They sell these under the Icee and Slush Puppie brands. Have you seen ICEE Bear? He's a fun animated polar bear and the company's mascot!
The Icee Company was started by Omar Knedlik, who invented the first Icee drink. His idea helped create other popular frozen machine drinks, like the Slurpee. This happened after 7-Eleven bought some of his machines in 1965. Since 1988, Icee has been part of J & J Snack Foods. You can find Icee products in many countries, including the United States, Canada, Mexico, Guatemala, Australia, the United Kingdom, China, and the Middle East.
Contents
How Icee Started
The Icee drink was invented in 1958 by a man named Omar Knedlik. He owned a Dairy Queen store in Coffeyville, Kansas. One day, his soda machine broke down. To keep his sodas cold, he put the bottles in the freezer.
When customers opened these frozen sodas, they would instantly turn into a slushy drink. People loved this new frozen soda! It became very popular at his store.
The Name and Mascot
A local artist and friend of Omar Knedlik, Ruth E. Taylor, helped create the name "Icee." She also came up with the idea for the logo, which has icicles hanging from the block letters. This cool design is still used today!
Ruth also thought of using a polar bear. The actual bear mascot was later created by an advertising agency called Norsworthy-Mercer. Another artist, Lonnie Williams, designed the "Icee" word with snow on it for a cup.
The First Icee Machine
Knedlik worked with the John E Mitchell Company in Dallas to build a special machine for his frozen drink. He even got a patent for it in 1960. The very first machine was made from parts of a car's air conditioning unit! It worked by mixing freezing water, carbon dioxide, and flavor syrup.
After five years, Knedlik's idea became the famous Icee Machine. It caught the eye of 7-Eleven, a big convenience store chain. They bought several machines. Later, 7-Eleven changed the drink's name to Slurpee because of the slurping sound people make when they drink it.
The Mitchell Company set up a plan for selling the machines. They had "Developers" and "Subdevelopers" who paid fees to use the Icee machines. They also got rights to sell the machines and promote the Icee drink in certain areas. By the mid-1960s, 300 Icee machines had been made.
In 1987, J & J Snack Foods bought The Icee Company. The company moved its main office from California to La Vergne, Tennessee, in December 2019.
Icee Products
Drinks
The Icee Company has more than 75,000 Icee machines across America. They serve over 300 million Icee drinks every year! You can find Icees in many places.
- Some McDonald's and Subway restaurants inside Walmart stores sell Icees.
- Burger King restaurants and Sam’s Club locations in the US also sell Icees and Icee Floats.
- Target and Wawa stores offer Icees too.
- In Mexico, Icee is popular in department stores like Walmart, movie theaters, and convenience stores.
- Icee is the main frozen drink sold at Wawa and Quick Chek, which are convenience store chains in the Mid-Atlantic region of the US.
- You can also find Icees at Valero gas stations with Corner Store marts and at most Rainforest Café locations.
In 2019, Icee started selling its drinks in the United Kingdom for the first time. They teamed up with Vimto, a UK-based drink maker. Soon after, they signed deals to supply Icee to the Cineworld and Showcase Cinemas movie theater chains across Europe.
Toys
In January 2020, a toy company called Moose Toys worked with Icee's Slush Puppie brand. They made 3 special Slush Puppie-themed Shopkins and Mini Packs for their Season 13 toys. The same 4 Shopkins were released again for Season 14.
In 2021, Moose Toys partnered with Icee again. This time, they created Shopkins and Mini Packs based on the main Icee drinks. These toys were released in October 2021.
See also
In Spanish: The ICEE Company para niños
