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World Rugby Flavours, Bluebell by Drone & Shop Economics
The Broken Cone: Ice Cream & Gelato Newsletter
The Broken Cone
September 15, 2025
World Rugby Flavours, Bluebell by Drone & Shop Economics
Hello!
Welcome to The Broken Cone. The Ice Cream & Gelato newsletter: for Scoopers & Shop Owners.
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Every Monday we send you two news stories and one deep dive, direct to your inbox.
Approx. read time: 2 mins 53 secs
NEWS
Two recent updates from the Ice Cream & Gelato world.
Rugby World Flavours
Brighton’s Boho Gelato (England) created four specials to celebrate the Women’s Rugby world cup coming to town. A flavour for each of the nations playing; Rose and Raspberry Cream Tea (England), Irish Coffee (Ireland), Kiwi Pavlova (New Zealand) and Vegemite Caramel (Australia). Boho engaged with their international customers to create each flavour and served them at one of their stores and the fan zone where games were shown. The promotion was supported by the City Council and caught attention of local media. Boho have Two Brighton shops; great tour here.
Bluebell by Drone
Bluebell Ice Cream is delivering pints of Pecan Pie by drone to homes in Dallas-Fort Worth (U.S.) The promotion is a collaboration between Bluebell, Walmart and Wing (Google’s drone service). Running from Sept 4th - Oct 5th, the freebie promotion introduces customers to food delivery by drone (as well as rollout Bluebell’s new Classic Pecan Pie). Concurrent cash prize competition is also running; customers are asked to follow, like, share and download socials/apps, introducing them to Wing’s ordering ecosystem. Watch the drone in action.
Deep Dive
Shops, Flavours, Marketing, Operations, Founder Stories.
Sobering Shop economics
Modern MBA has stacked the below video with Ice Cream economic insights. They explore what Ice Cream now means to Conglomerates and Venture Capital. Spoiler: they’re turning away - but that doesn’t make it easier for independents. They also breakdown the finances of 3 NYC Ice Cream shops. Give it a watch:
No time? 3 shop summary:
Approach: Clear and unique selling point: fried ice cream. They buy their Ice Cream in bulk from Hershey’s and fry it in-store. They understand their limitations. Despite that, location is key: late night neighbourhood = consistent flow of customers.
Economics: Total annual revenue = $201K. Average summer revenue= $15k, Average Winter=$4k. Annual Shop revenue = $81k, but most interestingly, annual revenue from selling at local markets=$120k.
Key Takeaway: Their store revenue is bolstered by selling at over 100 weekend markets every year.
Approach: Clear and defined niche target audience. Asian-inspired flavours, bubble tea, and Croffles (Croissant/Waffles). Unique presence on social media to engage audience and selling at events attended by their ideal customers e.g. ComicCon.
Economics: $500k annually. Monthly Summer revenue = $65k, Winter = $30k.
Key takeaway: clear understanding and targeting of ideal customers.
Approach: High end artisanal product and process, focusing on quality ingredients. Ignores trends, clear-cut and long-established business model: i.e. supplying high end New York City Restaurants. Refuses to sell to supermarkets.
Economics: Wholesale business = $2.3m annually, retail shop (attached to wholesale lab) adding $480k annually.
Key Takeaway: They’re not affected by seasonal fluctuations because of business to business model (restaurants less affected by weather).
Our takeaway: Find your niche through either: location, customer or business model (or if you’re lucky - all 3)
Quote
The elevator to success is out of order. You'll have to use the stairs... one step at a time
That's all for this week folks.
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