Make Lawrence Home Sweet Home for No Coast
Donation protected
OUR MISSION
We seek to open a No Coast Creamery storefront in Lawrence, Kansas that focuses on specialty ice cream & non-dairy options made from local ingredients featuring creative and classic flavors. We would ideally strive to open a storefront within the next 1 to 1.5 years. In the meantime, we will use the funds raised by this campaign as a stepping stone to produce & operate out of a commissary kitchen space and to make ice cream easily accessible to the public.
In order to operate out of a production space and distribute our ice cream locally we must:
- Pay monthly rent to use our production space ($650/month)
- Purchase necessary equipment to operate on a larger production scale, including:
- Blast freezer for properly quickly freezing ice cream post-churn to achieve best consistency and decrease production time.
- Mobile freezer solution for transportation that can maintain proper temperature to preserve quality of ice cream during transit to wholesalers, vendors, etc.
- Mobile freezer solution for events like a generator to power a freezer that we have or a cold plate ice cream cart.
- Mobile equipment for Farmer's Markets--a table, a hand washing station, signage, etc.
- Convection oven for baking mix-ins.
- Larger Emery Thompson batch freezer (ice cream maker) that would allow us to produce at least three times the amount we currently.
- UPC codes to allow us to retail with larger chain vendors in the KC metro.
- Update our packaging to have all of the necessary info required by the State of Kansas and look sleek & marketable in appearance
The current crowdfunding goal is very low and will just barely tap into the build out costs of opening an ice cream shop, let alone to continue operate & grow as we have been. With your help from this campaign we have far:
- Purchased required wholesale licensing that will allow our products to be sold in stores and to be used by other businesses.
Purchased the correct permits from both the state of Kansas and the city of Lawrence.
These purchases will collectively allow us to cut our production times allowing us to have more time to make more ice cream, more time to get into contact with potential retailers and clients, and to overall make No Coast more readily available.
Once established, we will invest in the community by creating a gathering space to enjoy ice cream with friends and family, by purchasing and using ingredients from other local producers & makers whenever possible to invest back in the local economy, by establishing a healthy workplace with living wages, and by offering non-dairy options to fill a void for those who do not consume dairy.
OUR STORY
No Coast Creamery was founded in Peoria, Illinois in early 2016 by me, Willie Justus. It began as a hobby, but I realized immediately how much I genuinely loved to make ice cream. I had absolutely no experience in making ice cream or any food on a larger scale, nor did I have any funds, but made up for it with youthful ambition, naïvety, and big dreams. Making ice cream in Peoria afforded me the chance to create unique flavors unlike anything else available in the area for my best friends and myself to enjoy.
Things were going really well, and I learned a lot in a short time, but in August of the same year, after several years of consideration, I finally made the decision to move away from the safety of home. I packed up one weekend and moved north to Madison, Wisconsin. Nearly five years in Madison resulted in tons of personal growth for myself that I believe that I never would have experienced if I remained in my safe bubble back home. I met my partner Kaela shortly after the move. She's been the best support I could ever have, and has not only encouraged me to follow my dreams, but works so hard to help to make them a reality.
I was generously given the chance to work in some of Madison's best restaurants with no literally experience to speak of. I had the opportunity to work and learn in several kitchens under chefs with years & years of experience, formal culinary backgrounds, and even a James Beard semi finalist. This experience helped to shape No Coast into something more creative, consistent, and feasible.
Since 2016, No Coast has produced thousands of pints, taken many forms, including a subscription service, and has popped up in many amazing spaces thanks to the support of others. We've taken many steps forward, just as many sidesteps and have had our fair share of ups and downs.
Our most recent steps have taken us to Lawrence, where Kaela is going to school for her master's degree and I am currently working as a landscaper at KU. In our brief month and a half that we've spent in Lawrence, we've felt so welcomed and supported by the community, it's been unreal. On our first day we were in shock at how many genuine and friendly people made an effort to say hello and introduce themselves to us. We are thrilled to be a part of such a supportive and neighborly community. Now, we're finally confident to plant our roots, make Lawrence our home, and to turn our dream of opening a store front, into a reality.
OUR ICE CREAM IS BUILT ON THE THINGS WE LOVE
GOOD FRIENDS
- No Coast Creamery ice cream is the byproduct of many great local producers. While not always the easiest, or most economic choice, we value the bigger picture importance of networking with others in our Lawrence community to build relationships and showcase the hard work of those individuals. Over the years we've been lucky enough to make some of the best friends around. While in Peoria & Madison we consciously made an effort to use products from those friends and other small businesses. In an effort to continue to do so in Lawrence, we have sourced ingredients from companies including Yippee Cafe and 1900 Barker to name a few.
LOCAL INGREDIENTS
- You can taste the difference that seasonally fresh local ingredients makes in our ice cream. Local Kansas dairy from Hildebrand Farms Dairy, located in nearby Junction City serves as the basis of our ice cream. We will continue to use local eggs for our custard bases in addition to locally produced butter for our waffle cone mix.
- Our "free time" is spent personally selecting the farm fresh produce that we use from the Lawrence Farmer's Market and The Merc Co-Op that creates the pillar of our seasonal flavors. Go into the woods and you may even find us foraging it!
FUN FLAVORS
- Our flavors change often. They ebb & flow as the seasons progress. Ingredients are inherently not stagnant. As winter lifts, and spring begins, it's time to focus on light, floral flavors, and savor early produce like rhubarb. When the time comes and fall arrives, pumpkins abound, and we begin to crave deeper, cozier flavors.
- Like our ingredients, we never want to be stagnant. Some flavors pop into our head and cannot be contained. Other times, a dish at a great restaurant inspires us. One time the scent of a bar of soap even sounded like a great flavor.
- Regardless of the inspiration, we never want to create anything that's unapproachable or self-indulgent. While we may make some unique flavors that push the boundaries of ice cream that one may find to be a bit of challenge, we do so with purpose. We do not aimlessly seek to use an ingredient simply because it is strange. On the other hand though, we have just as much appreciation for the classics. We love cookie dough and understand its place.
CLEAN INGREDIENTS
- Our ice cream is clean. We don't use any artificial colors in our products. Everything is naturally colored, either by the ingredients themselves, or from a small addition of a naturally occurring food coloring such as Beet Powder, Turmeric, or Spirulina, with the rare except of an occasional sprinkle flavor.
- We don't use any artificial ingredients or high fructose corn syrup our ice cream, or use any mix-ins that contain those ingredients.
- SCIENCE
- Every time you dig into a pint of No Coast Creamery, you will be blown away at how creamy and delightful it is. We use this nifty system called the metric system to weigh out all of our ingredients and do lame stuff like calculate the butterfat and solids in percentages, so that you can receive a wonderful pint or scoop of ice cream that's consistently perfect batch after batch.
Organizer
Willie Justus
Organizer
Lawrence, KS