Imagine your next special event, enhanced by, not just any food truck, but with a complete mobile ice cream parlor! This is a place where your guests can actually step inside, choose their ice cream flavors and toppings, and turn any day into a SUNDAE!
This is exactly what you can expect when the Ice Cream Emergency truck rolls up!
For owner Debra Arrato, the journey towards creating her own ice cream empire started at the tender age of 16, while working at a Friendly’s restaurant. From that moment on, she dreamed of owning her own ice cream parlor. But the achievement of this dream wouldn’t come for another 25 years, during which time Debra paved the way to her success with hard work, determination and savvy entrepreneurship.
While working in commercial banking and beginning to build a family, Debra sought out ways she could run her own business, allowing her to be available for her growing children. Over the next 20 years, Debra thrived in over four different business that she ran all from home.
As I listened to her speak about the range of services and products she sold over the years, I immediately saw the common thread among it all. What makes Debra and all her businesses special was her commitment to, not only the quality of the service, but the total experience that a customer can expect when they work with her.
She also has an incredible work ethic. From direct sales to a gift basket company, then on to a chocolate fountain rental business and a photo booth company, with each one Debra dove in with both feet, and grew its success quickly. I admired the way she made it all work, balancing a home-based business with family life.
As the owner of Gift Baskets USA, she created a veritable gourmet food shop in her garage with aisles of carefully curated products. She employed local moms to work the “assembly line” in order to get the baskets packaged and ready to ship.
Debra also learned when to listen to the needs of her customers and see where the market was heading. During an expo with her gift basket company, she had the ingenious idea to rent and display a chocolate fountain at her booth. Not as common as they are now, this unique feature was clearly a huge success as a long line formed in front of her booth. Many visitors asked about the fountain and if she could bring it to their event! This light bulb moment led Debra to purchase the fountain and create a whole new service for the next 4 years. When you hired Chocolate Fountain of CT, you didn’t just get a piece of equipment. Debra and her team came dressed in coordinating attire to match the event’s theme and served the guests in style.
But between each endeavor, Debra’s mind always returned to her original dream – owning an ice cream parlor. Each time she thought about it, hesitation set it. A brick and mortar style ice cream shop had different challenges than any of the businesses she had ever done before. Cue the Food Truck era! Suddenly, the solution was simple; a mobile ice cream parlor!
With the help of Debra’s husband, Tony, they found their first bus and got to work:
“We found a retired service bus, started to take things apart and before we knew it, we had an ice cream parlor on wheels!”
With the help of 39 Flavors and 18 different toppings to choose from, the “scoopologists” aboard the Ice Cream Emergency truck are “saving lives one scoop at a time.” And unlike other mobile food business, they serve only at your special events.
So this unique experience can be added to your wedding, birthday party or just an awesome way to tell your employees how much you appreciate them.
Together, Debra and Tony have now franchised the business and grown to 6 buses covering Connecticut and New Jersey. With her dream finally realized, what’s really important to Debra is how her bus makes people feel. “We get to help the host of the event really wow their guests,” she says. After all, any bad mood or cloudy day can be turned right side up with a scoop of ice cream on hand!
Contact Debra Arrato or a local franchisee near you to bring the Ice Cream Emergency mobile ice cream parlor to your next special event.
Visit them online at https://www.icecreamemergency.com
All my best with no stress!