Dippin' Dots is an

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

snack invented by Curt Jones in 1988."Curt Jones"
, Dippin Dots Website, accessed 14 Dec 2010 The confection is created by flash freezing ice cream mix in

liquid nitrogen Liquid nitrogen (LN2) is nitrogen in a liquid state at cryogenics, low temperature. Liquid nitrogen has a boiling point of about . It is produced industrially by fractional distillation of liquid air. It is a colorless, mobile liquid whose vis ...

. The snack is made by Dippin' Dots, Inc., headquartered in

Paducah, Kentucky Paducah ( ) is a List of cities in Kentucky, home rule-class city in the Upland South, and the county seat of McCracken County, Kentucky, United States. The most populous city in the Jackson Purchase region, it is located in the Southeastern Unit ...

. Dippin' Dots are sold in 14 countries, including Honduras and Luxembourg. Because the product requires storage at temperatures below , it is not sold in most grocery stores, as most cannot meet such extreme cooling requirements. Dippin' Dots are sold in individual servings at franchised outlets. Many are in

stadium A stadium (: stadiums or stadia) is a place or venue for (mostly) outdoor sports, concerts, or other events and consists of a field or stage completely or partially surrounded by a tiered structure designed to allow spectators to stand or sit ...

s, arenas,

shopping mall A shopping mall (or simply mall) is a large indoor shopping center, usually Anchor tenant, anchored by department stores. The term ''mall'' originally meant pedestrian zone, a pedestrian promenade with shops along it, but in the late 1960s, i ...

s, and in

vending machine A vending machine is an automated machine that dispenses items such as snacks, beverages, cigarettes, and lottery tickets to consumers after cash, a credit card, or other forms of payment are inserted into the machine or payment is otherwise m ...

s, though there are also locations at

aquarium An aquarium (: aquariums or aquaria) is a vivarium of any size having at least one transparent side in which aquatic plants or animals are kept and displayed. fishkeeping, Fishkeepers use aquaria to keep fish, invertebrates, amphibians, aquati ...

s, zoos,

museum A museum is an institution dedicated to displaying or Preservation (library and archive), preserving culturally or scientifically significant objects. Many museums have exhibitions of these objects on public display, and some have private colle ...

s, and

theme park An amusement park is a park that features various attractions, such as rides and games, and events for entertainment purposes. A theme park is a type of amusement park that bases its structures and attractions around a central theme, often fea ...

History

Dippin' Dots was founded in Paducah, Kentucky, in 1988. Jones began the company in his parents' garage. It was originally invented as cow feed when Jones, who specialized in

cryogenics In physics, cryogenics is the production and behaviour of materials at very low temperatures. The 13th International Institute of Refrigeration's (IIR) International Congress of Refrigeration (held in Washington, DC in 1971) endorsed a universa ...

, was trying to make efficient fodder for farm animals. The company is now headquartered in

. In 1992, Dippin' Dots received for its ice cream making process, and in 1996 unsuccessfully sued its main competitor, Mini Melts, for patent infringement, losing the suit in February 2007. Japan became the first international licensee of Dippin' Dots in 1995. In 2007, the U.S. Patent and Trademark Office ruled against Dippin' Dots because the process of creating the ice cream was "obvious" rather than proprietary. On November 4, 2011, the company filed for

Chapter 11 bankruptcy Chapter 11 of the United States Bankruptcy Code ( Title 11 of the United States Code) permits reorganization under the bankruptcy laws of the United States. Such reorganization, known as Chapter 11 bankruptcy, is available to every business, w ...

protection, after failing to reach an agreement with their lender, Regions Bank. According to ''The New York Times'', the bank had been trying to

foreclose Foreclosure is a legal process in which a lender attempts to recover the balance of a loan from a borrower who has stopped making payments to the lender by forcing the sale of the asset used as the collateral for the loan. Formally, a mort ...

on Dippin' Dots for over a year. On May 18, 2012, U.S. Bankruptcy Court approved the purchase of the company by Scott Fischer and his father Mark Fischer. The Fischers had co-founded Chaparral Energy in

Oklahoma City, Oklahoma Oklahoma City (), officially the City of Oklahoma City, and often shortened to OKC, is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of municipalities in Oklahoma, most populous city of the U.S. state of Oklahoma. The county seat ...

. They retained company founder Curt Jones as CEO, and planned to expand from 1,600 sales locations to 2,000 locations, keeping the production and headquarters in Paducah, where it employed 165 people. In mid-2014, the company purchased gourmet popcorn franchisor Doc Popcorn, which had about 100 stores. On February 10, 2015, the company announced they would co-brand stores with both products. The 1,000-square-foot stores would sell Dippin' Dots and Doc Popcorn, with a common selling counter, register and employees. In May 2022, J & J Snack Foods Corp. announced that it was going to acquire Dippin’ Dots for $222 million, and the acquisition was closed on June 21, 2022.

Charity work

Dippin' Dots has sponsored the "Celebrity Grand Slam Paddle Jam" celebrity

table tennis Table tennis (also known as ping-pong) is a racket sport derived from tennis but distinguished by its playing surface being atop a stationary table, rather than the Tennis court, court on which players stand. Either individually or in teams of ...

tournament in Hollywood, whose proceeds benefit St. Jude Children's Research Hospital in

Memphis, Tennessee Memphis is a city in Shelby County, Tennessee, United States, and its county seat. Situated along the Mississippi River, it had a population of 633,104 at the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, making it the List of municipalities in Tenne ...

. The company is a contributor to the charity Give Kids the World Village in

Kissimmee, Florida Kissimmee ( ) is the largest city and county seat of Osceola County, Florida, Osceola County, Florida, United States. As of the 2020 United States census, 2020 census, the population was 79,226. It is a principal city of the Greater Orlando, O ...

DD Cryogenics

Dippin' Dots are stored and transported at –40 degree Fahrenheit (–40 °C), which is colder than most frozen foods require. The company's development of ultra low temperature freezers, proper storage and transportation got the company involved from about 1988 with selling their equipment for other uses, such as preserving microbiological cultures for fermentation. To expand this side business after the 2011 bankruptcy and sale, a subsidiary company, Dippin' Dot (DD) Cryogenics LLC, was established in May 2019. DD Cryogenics did contract freezing and

pelletizing Pelletizing is the process of compressing or molding a material into the shape of a pellet. A wide range of different materials are pelletized including chemicals, iron ore, animal compound feed, plastics ( nurdles), waste materials, and more. Th ...

of microbiological products out of their Paducah plant. In August 2020 a new dedicated 6,000 square foot, 3.2 million manufacturing plant came online in Paducah. Their services now include contract design and manufacturing, cryogenic processors, and ultra low temperature freezers.

Vaccine storage

DD's creation of ultra low temperature freezing for their own food products, and commercial freezers going as low as , sparked interest when vaccines were developed for

COVID-19 Coronavirus disease 2019 (COVID-19) is a contagious disease caused by the coronavirus SARS-CoV-2. In January 2020, the disease spread worldwide, resulting in the COVID-19 pandemic. The symptoms of COVID‑19 can vary but often include fever ...

that required storage at -94 °F (-70 °C). Pharmacists and distributors of those vaccines reached out for those freezers.

References

External links

* {{Food chains in Japan Companies based in Kentucky Food and drink companies established in 1988 Restaurants established in 1988 Companies that filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy in 2011 History of Lexington, Kentucky Ice cream brands Molecular gastronomy Paducah, Kentucky Restaurant chains in the United States 1988 establishments in Illinois 2022 mergers and acquisitions Fast-food franchises