Fans willing to wait to get some Olympic Mountain Ice Cream during the pandemic

Chocolates and flowers are classic Valentine’s Day gifts, but how about surprising someone special with an eight-pack of ice cream in out-of-the-ordinary flavors such as marionberry fudge truffle, strawberry cheesecake and tiramisu?

That’s part of the idea behind Olympic Mountain Ice Cream’s Saturday pop-up sale — that, and the need to find new ways to sell the sweet stuff during the pandemic.

While pints in a handful of flavors are available in some local grocery stores, most of Bev and Karl Black’s family-churned treats are usually sold to restaurants throughout Western Washington, and the cold fact is that coronavirus has changed all that.

The sales the Blacks have been holding in Olympia parking lots over the past few months aren’t their most surprising survival strategy.

That designation goes to the now-public option to stop by the Olympic Mountain factory northwest of Shelton — a small factory, staffed largely by the Blacks and their children, that’s located on the same wooded property where the couple lives.

It used to be that the location of the factory was a closely guarded secret, though those in the know often stopped by to pop into the walk-in freezer and choose ice creams, sorbets and vegan frozen desserts from a rotating lineup of some 300 flavors.

These days, though, the factory’s address — 221 W. Bambi Farms Road, Shelton — comes right up when you search on the Internet. The only caveat is that you need to call ahead to make sure it’s open.

So what led the Blacks to reveal their location to ice-cream lovers at large?

“Oh, you know, desperation,” Bev Black said. “We really hit a block in March. I’m so used to the phone ringing constantly all day long, and there was just silence.

“We had to do some quick thinking just to stay alive,” she told The Olympian. “We have a dozen employees, and in the summer even more, and they’re all like family.”

In fact, several of the employees are family. The Blacks’ children all work in the business, which Bev and Karl have been running for more than three decades, building a reputation for super-premium ice cream made with locally sourced ingredients.

These days, of course, no one is invited into the walk-in freezer — something that used to thrill visitors as well as chill them, Bev said — or even into the factory. Instead, a list of flavors is posted on the door, and shoppers can ring the bell when they’re ready to order.

“That doorbell rings a lot,” she said. “We get more and more people all the time.”

Even with the option to pop-in, the pop-up sales have been essential at a time when sales have been down by 30 percent to 50 percent every month, said Trail Black, Bev and Karl’s oldest son.

“These one-day truck-sale events are accounting for about 25 percent of our revenue for the whole month,” he told The Olympian.

Customers craving the creaminess of Olympic Mountain’s treats have scooped up about 1,000 quarts at each sale. In December, in fact, every flavor except vanilla sold out.

So for the last sale, held Jan. 23, the company ramped up production. And long lines formed on a cold Saturday morning to snap up some creamy goodness.

“We made a ridiculous amount of each flavor, because we felt bad some people were disappointed,” Trail said. “It was a success. … While selling more quarts than ever, we didn’t run out of any flavors the whole day.”

The January sale was a success by another metric, too. The Blacks asked customers to bring donations for the Thurston County Food Bank and the Saint’s Pantry Food Bank in Shelton. Besides the food donations, the event raised $800 for each food bank.

“People were so generous,” Bev said. “I’m happy to see that there are still people who can afford some ice cream and still put money in the jar.”

Olympic Mountain Ice Cream Pop-Up Sale

• What: The much-loved Shelton ice creamery is bringing a truckful of varieties of super-premium ice cream, sorbet and vegan frozen dessert to Olympia.
• When: 9:30 a.m.-4 p.m. Saturday, Feb. 6
• Where: Outside Anthony’s Homeport, 704 Columbia St. NW, Olympia
• Cost: $6 per pint, $10 per quart, $30 per gallon, $40 for the Valentine’s Day eight-pack of pints; $8 for a pint of hot buttered rum mix
• Also: Olympic Mountain is also offering the option to pick up frozen treats at the factory, 221 W. Bambi Farms Road, Shelton. Call first to make sure it’s open.
• More information: https://olympicmountainicecream.com/, 360-426-0696

Flavors

Valentine’s Day pack: One pint each of chocolate Bordeaux cherry, chocolate salted caramel, hazelnut fudge ribbon, mango passionfruit sorbet, marionberry fudge truffle, strawberry cheesecake, tiramisu, white chocolate Chambord raspberry ribbon

Ice cream: Blackberry cheesecake, Bordeaux cherry chocolate chip, brown butter brickle, chocolate brownie sundae, chocolate chip mint, chocolate, macadamia nut coffee caramel ribbon, cookies and dough, dulce de leche, salted caramel, espresso flake, green tea, hot chocolate habanero, lemon cheesecake raspberry ribbon, lemon lavender, licorice, Madagascar vanilla, mud pie, peanut butter pie, peanut butter salted caramel ribbon, pistachio, rocky road, root beer float, spumoni, strawberry cream, tiramisu, toasted coconut, toasted coconut caramel ribbon, vanilla salted caramel ribbon, vanilla habanero, whiskey praline fudge ribbon, white chocolate Chambord

Sorbet: Boysenberry mango, guava marionberry, Northwest berry magic, pineapple coconut, raspberry, raspberry lemon, strawberry passionfruit

Vegan frozen dessert (made with coconut milk): Chocolate, lemon poppyseed

This story was originally published February 3, 2021 at 5:45 AM.