The system is marketed as taking shelf-stable, recyclable ice cream pods of varying flavors and freezing them in about 90 seconds before dispensing it into a cup or cone. The company is also working on pods for smoothies, frozen coffees, protein shakes, non-dairy ice cream and frozen cocktails, such as mud slides and daiquiris. The machine reads a QR code on top of the pod’s label to find the specific freezing temperature for each product.
The product, which is only in the prototype stage with plans to launch in select locations in the second quarter of 2021 and ship direct to consumers early next year, falls under the where has this been all my life? category. But the price point is less sweet than the product: $1,000. (The company said it aims to eventually bring it down by half.)
Matthew Fonte, the serial entrepreneur behind the product, said it’s been a big undertaking to create pods that are safe, convenient (little cleanup), cost effective and sustainable; the pod containers are aluminum like a soda can. Keurig and other one-time use pod makers have long been criticized for the inability to recycle their products.
“This is challenging and requires significant development and engineering expertise,” said Fonte, who has a PhD in mechanical engineering from Tufts University. “In the beginning, a lot of people didn’t think it was [scientifically] possible to create ice cream like this in about a minute or so.”
The company says the machine simultaneously pulls heat from the pod, creating a cooling effect on the liquid ice cream mix, and engages a part within the pod that churns the ingredients during the cooling process. Air is sucked into the can to make the required loft in the ice cream.
The idea started years ago when Fonte and his two daughters grew tired of reading the same books at bedtime and decided to write in “invention journals.”
“We included new toys, toothbrushes and hoola hoops,” he told CNN Business. “One day, they asked for an ice cream machine.”
He explained ice cream machines for the home aren’t typically efficient; many require a bucket to be frozen overnight, a consistent mixing process and are a mess to clean up. “What about a Keurig machine for ice cream?” one daughter asked.
The rest is histrawberry.
Fonte’s background played a significant role in jumpstarting the process. He and his brother worked alongside their father, an Italian immigrant, for 20 years in a metal working business, producing rocket motor cases for missiles. After they sold the business, they started another focused on super elastic orthopedic implants. His team from that company later left together to start…
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