Dippin' Dots, the newest member of Kentucky Proud,
gears up for this fall's World Equestrian Games

By CHRIS ALDRIDGE, Kentucky Agricultural News

Dippin’ Dots wants the world to know it is Kentucky Proud. The Paducah-based business has joined the Kentucky Department of Agriculture’s farm marketing program and will show off its Kentucky roots to a global audience later this year as the official ice cream of the 2010 Alltech FEI World Equestrian Games.

“I want to welcome Dippin’ Dots to the Kentucky Proud family,” Agriculture Commissioner Richie Farmer said. “The company’s notoriety and the proven quality of its unique ice cream add to the strength of the Kentucky Proud brand. We look forward to teaming with Dippin’ Dots to market their Kentucky-made products to consumers here in the Commonwealth and beyond.”

“I am excited to be a part of the Kentucky Proud marketing program and look forward to the opportunity of co-marketing our brand and Kentucky to all of the world," Dippin' Dots founder and chairman Curt Jones said. "Dippin' Dots' association with Alltech and the Alltech FEI World Equestrian games this fall in Lexington will be a prime example of what unbridled spirit can achieve.”

Dippin' Dots can be found in more than 1,500 locations throughout the country in amusement parks, water parks, stadiums, arenas, zoos, aquariums and movie theaters. Dippin’ Dots also has approximately 150 franchises that sell the products in more than 170 mall and store locations. Its products are sold in 1,000 fairs and festivals nationwide.

“With Dippin’ Dots being the official ice cream of the World Equestrian Games, we thought it only fitting to add the Kentucky Proud logo to our product lines to tell the world that we are proud of the state we represent,” said Stan Jones, director of international marketing for Dippin’ Dots. “We hope Kentucky is also proud to have the only Dippin’ Dots manufacturing facility in the United States.

“Dippin’ Dots is proud to be manufacturing in Kentucky,” Jones added. “Dippin’ Dots is sold around the globe, but … it all started in Kentucky.  From inventing the ice cream bead concept to the first store in Lexington, Kentucky has been the base of operations for the company since the beginning. The central location of Paducah, Ky., to the rest of the country makes the distribution of our products feasible to the continental U.S. within five days or less.”

Curt Jones, a microbiologist, pioneered the process of cryogenic encapsulation, or using super-cold freezing methods to make little beads of ice cream. He discovered that flash-freezing ice cream almost instantly in liquid nitrogen locked in flavor and freshness.

Sensing a business opportunity, Jones founded Dippin’ Dots Inc. in 1988 and began producing the product in his parents' garage in Grand Chain, Ill. The family’s farm, where Jones grew up raising livestock, is located about 25 miles across the Ohio River from Paducah.

In 1990, Dippin’ Dots’ production outgrew the garage, and the business moved to a former retail store in Paducah. The fast-growing company opened a new 32,000-square-foot factory in 1995 and, just two years later, expanded by 20,000 square feet. In 2003, the company added the largest minus 50-degree commercial walk-in freezer in North America.

In addition to its domestic production in Kentucky, Dippin’ Dots are also manufactured in Canada and South Korea.  Dippin’ Dots Inc. and Alltech are partners in Dippin’ Dots Global, a company that represents Dippin’ Dots internationally.

Click here to find out more about Dippin' Dots on the official company Web site.