Ample Hills had a classic supply-and-demand problem. The Brooklyn ice cream company opened a small scoop shop in Prospect Heights in 2011 and promptly had to close four days later due to the high demand. It’s massively grown since then. Now, it churns out playful ice cream packed with mix-ins like brownies and pretzels for both 10 NYC area locations and retail pints, all from an 1,000-square-foot Gowanus shop.
No longer. As of Thursday, July 26, Ample Hills will open its 15,000-square-foot new factory, museum, and store in Red Hook. With the help of an $8 million investment, co-founders Jackie Cuscuna and Brian Smith are turning 421 Van Brunt St. at Beard Street into an ice cream destination with the capability to produce 500,000 gallons a year, or 10 times as much as from the Gowanus shop.
The factory portion is half ice cream production, half bakery, as the company prides itself on making all of its bases and mix-ins from scratch, such as brownies, cookie dough, peppermint patties, and peanut butter cups. An interactive museum, which is free and takes up 2,000 square feet, looks out onto the factory. Various exhibits, from a 22-foot-wide map of Brooklyn and model trolley car to a climb-through tunnel and flavor smell station, lead people through the Ample Hills story.
“We really wanted to welcome people into the narrative of how we make ice cream and also why. Something a little more than just, ‘This machine does that and that machine does this,’” Smith says. “It’s about understanding the narrative of what ice cream means to all of us and what Brooklyn means to Ample Hills.”
Beyond the museum, the scoop shop has classic flavors such as Ooey Gooey Butter Cake with vanilla ice cream and chunks of butter cake; the Munchies with pretzel-infused ice cream, Ritz crackers, potato chips, pretzels, and mini M&Ms; and Peppermint Pattie with peppermint ice cream, semi-sweet chocolate flakes, and dark chocolate peppermint patties. The Hook is a factory-exclusive flavor, with burnt sugar ice cream, stroop waffles, and chunks of salted fudge. It’s meant to be an homage to the Lenape people, the Dutch settlers of Red Hook, as well as the old sugar refinery factories of the area.
It’s no secret that Ample Hills is chasing after Ben & Jerry’s, and this factory is a step in that pursuit. Disney CEO Bob Iger has been a major ally in that goal, collaborating on a Star Wars pint and sending samples to Jimmy Kimmel, Mike Nichols, J.J. Abrams, Tom Hanks, and Oprah.
The brand still has a ways to go, though, as it pulls in $7.5 million annually while B&J generates $1.23 billion in annual revenue. To start, a Los Angeles location will open this summer, and Smith says they’re looking to open more locations out West, plus grow the tri-state shop and pint presence.
This opening furthers this area of Red Hook, nearby Hometown Bar-B-Que, Sixpoint Brewery, and Sunny’s, as a true destination. Ample Hills will be open daily at noon, until 10 p.m. Sunday through Thursday and until 11 p.m. Friday and Saturday.