S
Starter Story
Business Idea
Start An Ice Cream Wholesale Business
About
Starting an ice cream wholesale business requires a great deal of effort, dedication, and most importantly passion.
If you're interested in how to sell ice cream wholesale , or selling ice cream wholesale online, you can use this page as a guide for everything you'll need to know.
Want to learn more? You can check out our full guide on how to start an ice cream wholesale business ➜
Key stats
market size
$62.3B
starting costs
$63.1K
gross margin
40%
avg product price
$28
time to build
6 months
Startup Costs
| Min Startup Costs | Max Startup Costs | |
|---|---|---|
| Office Space Expenses | $35 | $3,250 |
| Employee & Freelancer Expenses | $0 | $5,500 |
| Equipment & Supply Expenses | $550 | $6,000 |
| Website Costs | $232 | $6,500 |
| Business Formation Fees | $5,600 | $20,400 |
| Retail Business Expenses | $0 | $16,150 |
| Inventory Expenses | $350 | $14,750 |
| Food Business Expenses | $2,125 | $36,000 |
| Software Expenses | $150 | $3,044 |
| Advertising & Marketing Costs | $75 | $5,286 |
| Other Expenses | $0 | $300 |
Successful Businesses
| Business | URL | Rank | |
|---|---|---|---|
|
Amys Ice Creams | amysicecreams.com | #495,655 |
|
Wholesale Flavours | wholesaleflavours.com | #1,154,584 |
|
rhino | rhinofoods.com | #1,519,477 |
|
Leopold's Ice Cream | leopoldsicecream.com | #1,882,780 |
|
Harlan Fairbanks | harlans.us | #3,607,864 |
|
SnoBar Southeast | snobarsoutheast.com | #4,236,215 |
|
Burge's Hickory Smoked Turkeys & Hams | smokedturkeys.com | #5,526,470 |
|
SnoqualmieIceCream | snoqualmieicecream.com | #5,746,916 |
|
The Ice Cream Club Inc. Ice Cream by Mail | icecreamclub.com | #6,060,139 |
|
Greenwood Ice Cream Manufacturer Distributor Atlanta Mix Foodservice Flavor Color Co-packer Wholesale Supplier Parlors Soft-serve Gelato Thai Roll Yogurt Sorbet Italian Ice Custard Dry Savannah Charleston Asheville Knoxville Nashville Birmingham Charlotte Greenville Myrtle Beach Nitrogen | greenwoodicecream.com | #6,237,820 |
|
Paletas – Mexican Authentic Paletas | pepitosicecream.com | #8,529,661 |
Pros & Cons
| Pros | Description |
|---|---|
| Flexibility | You can put as much time into the business as you'd like. If you like the work and have some initial experience, you can start small and manage all aspects of the business on your own. |
| Scalable | With businesses and processes changing daily, there will always be demand for new features, products and services for your business. Additionally, there are several different business models and pricing tiers you can implement that will allow you to reach all types of customers. |
| Meaningful business connections | You never know who you will meet as a ice cream wholesale business. This could be the start of an incredible business opportunity! |
| High customer retention rates | Once a customer invests in your product, they've invested their time and energy to utilize your product/service which is highly valuable to them. Typically, your product or service becomes indispensable to your customer. |
| High margins | The gross margins for your ice cream wholesale business are typically around 40%, which is considerably high and allows you to grow your business and manage costs easily. |
| Unlimited income potential | With starting an ice cream wholesale business there is no cap as to how much income you can make. The stronger your business skills and the more energy/time you put into your career, the more you'll make. |
| Cons | Description |
|---|---|
| Motivation of employees | If you plan to have a sales/content team on board, finding creative ways to motivate them can be a challenge. It's important that you're able to offer great incentives and a good work environment for your employees. |
| Low margins | The gross margins for your ice cream wholesale business are typically around 40%, which can make it more challenging to incur new expenses and maintain profitability. |
| High employee turnover | In the ice cream wholesale business, employee turnover is often high, which can be quite costly and time consuming for your business. It's important to try and avoid this as much as possible by offering competitive pay, benefits, and a positive work environment. |
| Taxes | As a ice cream wholesale business, you typically pay self-employment taxes which can be quite high. It's important to understand what you will be paying in taxes each year so you can determine if the work you're taking on is worth it. |
| High overhead expenses | With starting an ice cream wholesale business, there are overhead expenses that come with selling a physical product. You will want to make sure you strategically budget for these overhead costs. We discuss this more in the startup costs section below. |
| You may need to charge sales tax | If you are selling your products in various states, you may be required to charge sales tax. Although this may not impact your financials specifically, it can be a headache to create a process and procedure for this. To learn more about sales tax, check out [this article](https://www.thebalancesmb.com/do-i-need-to-collect-sales-taxes-in-my-state-398913) |
Marketing Ideas
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1
Word of mouth
The most tried and true way to grow a ice cream wholesale business is through word of mouth - some entrepreneurs would say it's more important than all social media.
-
2
Advertising on social media
Social media advertising is one of the leading ways to get the word out when it comes to ice cream wholesale business.
There are various different Social Media platforms available to you. Some may be more critical for your marketing efforts than others, however, it's important to have an understanding of what's out there and available to you.
-
3
Pay Per Click Advertising
Pay-per-click (PPC) is a performance-based marketing method that allows you to show specific ads for services or products oriented to a very defined target, with the goal that the user visits your website or landing page.
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