Fosselman's Ice Cream Company
| Company type | Private |
|---|---|
| Industry | Food industry |
| Founded | 1919 |
| Founder | Christian Anthony Fosselman |
| Headquarters | Alhambra, California , United States |
Area served | San Gabriel Valley, California |
Key people | John Fosselman, Chris Fosselman |
| Products | Ice cream, soft serve, custard, milkshakes |
Fosselman's Ice Cream Company is a longstanding ice cream enterprise located at 1824 W. Main Street in Alhambra, California, continuously owned and operated by the same family for three successive generations. Although officially founded in 1937, its origins extend back to a related family venture established in 1919.
History
Christian Anthony Fosselman initiated Fosselman's, Inc. in Waverly, Iowa in 1919, focusing on ice cream production. Five years afterward, he moved to Southern California and launched Fosselman Creamery in Pasadena, California, a wholesale dairy distributing milk, butter, cream, and ice cream throughout the San Gabriel Valley using company-operated delivery trucks.
In 1937, Fosselman divested the creamery and inaugurated an ice cream parlor in South Pasadena, where ice cream was crafted on the premises. Additional outlets were established in Highland Park (1941) and Glendale, supported by a manufacturing facility situated in Alhambra. By the 1970s, all locations except for the Alhambra site—a combined production plant and retail parlor—had ceased operations. During this era, David Klein, the creator of Jelly Belly, leased space at Fosselman's to market his jelly beans.
From the 1980s onward, management has been under John and Chris Fosselman, grandsons of the original founder. Today, Fosselman's supplies roughly 500 clients, including upscale restaurants, food trucks, and retirement communities.
In 2015, the company broadened its product range to feature soft serve ice cream, custard, and milkshakes. To cater to Alhambra's large Asian demographic, flavors such as taro, lychee, and ube were added. In 2019, Fosselman's introduced a new location named The Ice Cream Shop in Glendora, California.
Products
Fosselman's provides traditional ice cream flavors including chocolate, vanilla, and strawberry alongside unique offerings like taro, ube, and lychee, which reflect the tastes of Alhambra’s predominantly Asian population. Seasonal selections have included fresh peach, sweet corn elote, and watermelon sorbet. Previous flavor varieties have encompassed black sesame, dulce de leche, horchata, matcha green tea, Oaxacan chocolate, and red bean.
Reviews
The Los Angeles Times referred to Fosselman's as "the Alhambra emperors of ice cream," while the British publication The Guardian honored it as the "Best place to drink: Milkshakes."