There's a lot to learn about Baskin-Robbins, from what goes into the ice cream, to the
two dessert fanatics who started the business.
So let's take a deep dive into the history and mystery behind one of the best-known ice cream shops
in the world.
Some in-laws find it difficult to tolerate each other long enough to get through Thanksgiving
dinner, so starting a business venture together is usually out of the question.
But brothers-in-law Burton Baskin and Irvine Robbins had one passion in common that united
them forever, and that passion was ice cream.
Robbins was the son of a dairy owner and came of age in his family's ice cream store, scooping
up sundaes and happiness to customers all over Tacoma, Washington.
He joined the Army during World War II, and when he got out in 1945, his passion for ice
cream led him to found the Snowbird Ice Cream store in Glendale, California.
Baskin, who was married to Robbins' sister Shirley, had the same idea.
He founded Burton's Ice Cream in Pasadena, California in 1946.
By 1948, the duo had combined their stores to create one chain that would one day be
the most famous ice cream shop in the country.
They flipped a coin to see whose name would come first on the sign, and the coin told
them to keep it alphabetical.
Following the founders' time at the helm, Robbins wanted his son John to inherit the
business, but he ended up becoming a vegan and blazing his own trail outside the ice
cream industry.
However, he did leave a legacy behind at Baskin-Robbins, as he created one of the most popular flavors,
Jamoca Almond Fudge.
When you think "Baskin-Robbins," you probably automatically think "31 flavors."
"Come on!
Get that thirty-wonderful feeling!"
That's the company's gimmick, and it was meant to imply that the shop had so many different
flavors that you could try a new one every day of the month.
Irvine Robbins loved inventing ice cream flavors that were a combination of fun and goofy.
Some were even connected to current events, like Lunar Cheesecake, which was introduced
in 1969 in honor of the moon landing.
So it should come as no surprise that in actuality, there are a lot more than 31 flavors to be
sampled at this beloved store.
In fact, more than 1,300 flavors have been introduced to the world via the Baskin-Robbins
empire.
They aren't all available all the time, but this huge variety of tastes ensures that there's
something out there for everyone.
It's thanks to the brilliant minds of Baskin and Robbins that we have more than just vanilla,
chocolate, and strawberry to put in our bowls and cones, and our sweet teeth are eternally
grateful.
Thanks to these dessert tycoons, the biggest ice cream fans throughout the world can spend
their whole lives discovering new, delicious flavors.
"Welcome to Baskin-Robbins.
Would you like to try our Mango Fruit Blast?"
Not long after Baskin and Robbins united their individual ice cream shops to officially form
Baskin-Robbins, they started opening franchises all over the United States.
As of 2019, the company boasts locations in over 40 countries all around the world, with
that number growing all the time.
The stores all sell the famous 31 flavors, which change from location to location and
vary during the year.
They also sell other items like ice cream cake, milkshakes, and even frozen yogurt for
the folks who want to eat a little bit healthier.
It's no surprise then that Baskin-Robbins is now owned by a parent company with a similar
sweet tooth: Dunkin' Brands.
That would, of course, be the parent company of Dunkin', formerly known as Dunkin' Donuts,
one of America's favorite suppliers of breakfast sweets and caffeine.
"Best part of my day is when I'm at Dunkin.'"
As of 2019, the Baskin-Robbins franchise is ranked 12th out of the top 500 franchises
in the world, so it's fair to say that this merger was a pretty sweet deal.
Many of Baskin-Robbins' flavors have a cute or funny story behind them, and the one with
the best origin story has got to be Plum Nuts.
This flavor features, naturally enough, plums and walnuts mixed into vanilla ice cream,
and it's a consistent favorite among Baskin-Robbins customers.
No one would ever know, though, that it was invented as a witty response to what could've
very easily been construed as an insult.
According to the official Baskin-Robbins website, a boy came into a Baskin-Robbins store one
day and said to Burt Baskin,
"Whoever thinks of all these flavors must be plumb nuts!"
Instead of being offended, Baskin was inspired.
In fact, he told the boy,
"Congratulations.You just invented a new flavor: Plum Nuts."
Robbins wasn't too shabby at coming up with ice cream flavors on the spot either.
When a Washington Post reporter called to ask him if he had any flavors planned to honor
the arrival of the Beatles in America at the height of Beatlemania, he was at first caught
off guard.
But then within seconds, he replied,
"Uh, Beatle Nut, of course."
Within five days, the flavor was on the shelf and Beatles fans had even more to get excited about.
It's hard to imagine a world without pralines 'n cream ice cream in it.
But that world did exist up until 1970, when Irvine Robbins and his wife Irma brought some
pralines back from a trip to New Orleans.
As they were munching on the nuts-and sugar mix, they were suddenly struck by an inspiration
that would change the ice cream industry forever.
They ran to the kitchen, got out some vanilla ice cream and tossed in the pralines with
a ribbon of caramel to invent Pralines 'n Cream.
Once the new flavor was in stores, it was a huge success.
It was originally a limited-run item, leading to what basically amounted to a national crisis.
Baskin-Robbins franchise locations started receiving pleas and petitions with hundreds
of signatures on them from hungry people begging for more Pralines 'n Cream.
Students in Santa Barbara, California picketed their local stores, demanding the flavor's return.
The Dear Abby newspaper advice column even joined in the call for more Pralines 'n Cream.
In the end, Baskin-Robbins had to make a special production run to give fans what they wanted,
and the flavor has been a constant in all locations ever since.
When it comes to an ice cream store with more than 1,300 flavor options, it's hard to pick
just one favorite.
Many Baskin-Robbins flavors are wacky and full of fruits and candies and other fun add-ins
that people love to try, but at the end of the day the most popular flavors are actually
the tamer ones.
According to Baskin-Robbins' website, the top five best-selling flavors of all time
are vanilla, chocolate, mint chocolate chip, Pralines 'n Cream, and chocolate chip.
You might be surprised to see something as unextraordinary as vanilla at the top of this
list, but a lot of people apparently appreciate the more subtle approach of the classics.
Trendy flavors may come and go, but the ones people always come back for are the ones that
are constant, consistent, and reliably delicious.
Many ice cream fans even choose these flavors time and time again instead of sampling new
ones because they know from experience that they're going to be yummy.
Why take a risk when you could stick with what you already know is awesome?
The team at Baskin-Robbins has an unrivaled talent for creating new ice cream flavors
that are as fun as they are tasty.
However, not all of the concoctions they come up with make it to market, and that's for
a very good reason.
Burton Baskin and Irvine Robbins would come up with hundreds of new ice cream flavors
each year at their factory in Burbank, California, but fewer than 10 of those yearly inventions
ever saw the light of day.
While Baskin and Robbins were great ice cream thinkers, not all ideas are good ideas, and
it takes wisdom to realize that potential flavors like Lox and Bagels and Grape Britain
wouldn't sell well.
Arguably, the most off-putting flavor that never made it out of the Baskin-Robbins lab
was one that sounds like it never should've been invented in the first place, and that
would be ketchup-flavored ice cream.
Even adding a cutesy name to this proposed concoction couldn't change the fact that this
vinegary, tangy sauce is for burgers, not for ice cream cones.
"But just don't go squirting ketchup on it, and I love ketchup."
For Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins, ice cream wasn't just a business, it was life.
These two guys loved ice cream more than some people love their spouses, and they had some
pretty eccentric ideas about how to incorporate it into their daily lives.
Robbins, for example, would have his family sit around the dinner table and taste-test
his new product ideas, which seems normal enough.
But what's a little less normal is the fact that he also had an ice cream cone-shaped
pool built in his backyard.
Thank goodness he stopped short of filling it with Pralines 'n Cream, at least as far
as we know!
Robbins would also put ice cream on his cereal for breakfast in the morning, and he would
go through a quart of ice cream approximately every two or three days.
Talk about dedication to one's craft!
In spite of all this ice cream consumption, Robbins still lived to the ripe old age of
90, and he spent his extra money and time on fun things like classic cars and his own
boat, which he called the 32nd Flavor.
For some followers of the Jewish faith, keeping kosher can be quite challenging at times.
It can feel like you can't eat anything fun and that you always have to pay attention
to what ingredients are in the foods you do eat and how they're put together.
Foods at restaurants or shops are often not kosher, meaning they aren't prepared or eaten
in a way that fits with Jewish dietary law.
So your options for eating out can be limited.
In fact, only about a third of foods found in most grocery stores can be considered kosher.
Fortunately for ice cream lovers who have to keep kosher, though, Baskin-Robbins has
your back.
According to the website KosherQuest.org, the only two ice cream flavors from Baskin-Robbins
that aren't kosher are Rocky Road and Pink Bubble Gum.
Most likely it's the gelatin in these flavors that makes them non-kosher.
This means that strict followers of Judaism can choose literally any one, or every one,
of the other Baskin-Robbins flavors and be safe to fully enjoy them without breaking
any rules.
When you start a new business, especially one that involves plenty of invention and
creation of new ice cream flavors and textures, you're bound to come across a few occasional
problems.
One of the biggest issues that popped up in the Baskin-Robbins lab went by a name that
sounds anything but troublesome: Goody Goody Gumdrops.
While honing this new flavor, which includes, as the name implies, chewy gumdrops, Irvine
Robbins discovered that once the candies had been frozen in the ice cream, they became
extremely hard and difficult to eat.
Since he didn't want to break his customers' teeth, he had his team come up with freeze-resistant
formulas to prevent items like gumdrops, chocolate chips, bubble gum, and peanuts from freezing
while in the ice cream.
Thus, nobody would have to suffer while trying to enjoy a delicious scoop of candy-packed
goodness.
This step in ice cream creation revolutionized the industry.
It led to an experience that was a lot more enjoyable than the ones at some other ice
cream stores, where even to this day you still have to work much too hard to chew up the
add-ins.
We salute your efforts, Mr. Robbins, and so do our teeth!
"Baskin-Robbins always finds out."
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