Today we’d like to introduce you to Marc Cooper.
Marc, can you briefly walk us through your story – how you started and how you got to where you are today.
With a degree in Electrical Engineering, I began my full time working career in Production Management for a large Boston area electronics company. I was responsible for the production of equipment that would later become the technology for cell phone networks. 10 years later, I became the director of finance and operations for the Radiology department of the largest hospital in New England, where among other things specified and procured the world’s first digital voice mail system which was used for communicating radiology results. After our two children were born, and midlife crisis was looming large, I decided to pursue a career in one of my passions: Ice Cream. I learned to produce the finest ice cream in the Boston area from the guru of homemade ice cream, Steve Herrell, and opened two Herrell’s Ice Cream shops in Boston where we won Best of Boston from Boston Magazine 12 times. Along the way, Legal Sea Foods contracted with me to produce their famous Ice Cream Bon Bon desserts, which we did for 8 years, making over 2 million of them for their Boston area restaurants. We converted my flagship Allston store to include a cafe for the morning time when the store was idle. This was a big success which was copied by many other ice cream shop owners.
Life is unpredictable, and when my wife became critically ill, I sold my shops to concentrate on the wholesale part of my business which supplied my former shops and several others as well as many restaurants. We also developed a large ice cream catering business – something that no one else was doing in Boston at that time – serving upwards of 2000 people at some large company and tenant appreciation events.
In 1992, I had the idea to bottle our hot fudge sauce and began selling it in mason jars at our stores. This became popular for customers who wanted to use it as gifts or to travel with it. I decided to develop a more formal retail package for the hot fudge primarily to keep our staff busy during the offseason. I came up with the now famous “drippy lid” jar on a whim and the sales began to grow – enough that it became a business on its own. Around 2006, I rebranded my products as Coop’s MicroCreamery and began distributing pints and quarts as well as jars of our new Coop’s Hot Fudge. I sold my Watertown ice cream manufacturing business around 5 years ago and licensed the Coop’s name and recipes. We relocated to Southie about 18 months ago with only the toppings business and Cocoa Felice hot chocolate mix (named after my current wife who helped with the development) which had grown over 1000 percent from the time I licensed my ice cream and concentrated only on toppings.
Coop’s ice cream is available locally in specialty stores, is scooped at Anna’s Taqueria in Newton, and Berry Line stores in Cambridge. and Coop’s toppings (now Original Hot Fudge, Vegan Hot Fudge, and Salted Caramel) are in 44 states and Canada. They can be found locally in Shaw’s/Star Market, Wegman’s, Roche Bros./Sudbury Farms/Brothers, Whole Foods, Foodie’s, and many specialty stores.
Since we relocated to Southie, our production is done through a partnership with Project Place, a non-profit that specializes in job training. In our case, the WOW program (Working Opportunities for Women) hires women who come from disadvantaged backgrounds who are trying to build a work history in order to enter the workforce as productive individuals. Project Place provides skilled supervision and the employees are Serve Safe qualified. This has proven to be a win-win for us and Project Place and their trainees.
Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
The long hours with multiple retail stores was a burden – always wondering if the stores were operating properly and making a profit. The employee variable was always a challenge. Being at the whim of the public to walk in through the door was both exciting and anxiety provoking. Wholesale business has its own set of challenges: inventory worries (too much, too little), cost of goods variability and finding the right size space at a reasonable rent to name three big ones. All three of these have been concerns over the years.
Coop’s MicroCreamery – what should we know? What do you guys do best? What sets you apart from the competition?
We pride ourselves with producing the best products using the best ingredients available. Each of our 3 toppings have won coveted sofi™ awards at the Fancy Food Show, which is operated by the Specialty Food Association, in New York. Our All-Natural Original Hot Fudge and Salted Caramel sauces have won gold awards, and our Vegan Hot Fudge has won a silver award. Only 32 Gold sofi’s are awarded out of over 2000 entries each year. This sets us apart from our competitors as does our ingredients. We use only the finest European cocoa powder, local dairy an. We do not use corn syrup, additives or preservatives of any kind. Our products are non-GMO. We do not use soy, wheat, or nuts in our facility (coconut being the exception for our Vegan Hot Fudge). Our Hot Fudges and Cocoa Felice are certified Kosher – also setting us apart from our competition. Our sauces are made in small batches and are truly handmade (the maker’s initials are on each jar).
To top it all off, we have a unique trademarked “drippy lid” decoration on each jar. We have won packaging awards for this design and our products have been on display in a museum as well as in an international book on packaging design.
We also supply 1 and 4 gallon pails of our sauces to restaurants, ice cream makers and bakeries around the country. Our Cocoa Felice is also available in 5lb jugs for food service applications.
What moment in your career do you look back most fondly on?
Recognition of our high-quality products – by retailers as well as consumers – is my proudest accomplishment. My family, unlike the days when I worked for an electronics manufacturer, are happy to tell people about Coop’s.
Pricing:
- All of our retail topping and Hot Chocolate mixes sell for around $10 per unit
- Our Ice Cream ranges from $3.50 for a dish to $9 for a quart
Contact Info:
- Address: Coop’s MicroCreamery
28 Damrell Street
S. Boston, MA 02127 - Website: www.coopsmicrocreamery.com
- Phone: 617-269-1009
- Email: coopsmicrocreamery@gmail.com
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/coopsmicrocreamery
Getting in touch: BostonVoyager is built on recommendations from the community; it’s how we uncover hidden gems, so if you know someone who deserves recognition please let us know here.
