The New SKU

Straus Family Creamery debuted its Organic Plain Soft Serve Ice Cream Mix at Conecon 2026, the North American Ice Cream Association's trade show in Palm Springs, targeting cafés, scoop shops, and foodservice operators that want to build house signature flavors on a certified-organic dairy base. The mix carries 10% butterfat — higher than the creamery's existing Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate SKUs at 8% — and contains no egg yolks, which simplifies allergen management in a busy back-of-house.

Formulated in small batches in Northern California, Plain is built from organic nonfat milk, organic cream, organic cane sugar, and plant-based stabilizers. At 30% less sugar than the brand's Vanilla Soft Serve Mix, the base is deliberately neutral — operators can run it straight for a clean dairy flavor or add matcha powders, flavored syrups, or fruit purees to build a rotating seasonal menu without switching suppliers. It pours directly into soft serve machines with no prep and ships frozen in 1-gallon jugs, four per case, with a 180-day shelf life.

Foodservice Context

The organic-at-foodservice segment has been gaining traction as independent scoop shops and fast-casual operators look to differentiate on ingredient transparency — a pressure that extends to c-store-adjacent foodservice programs as forecourt retailers add self-serve frozen dessert stations. Demand for operator-customizable soft serve bases fits a broader trend in dispensed-beverage and frozen-treat programs where chains want a proprietary flavor profile rather than an off-the-shelf consumer product running through the machine.

Jim Peck, vice president of sales at Straus Family Creamery, framed the launch around operator ownership of the menu: "Plain lets operators customize their soft serve without giving up that quality, which opens up an opportunity for shops that want a soft serve menu that's entirely their own."

Plain rounds out a three-SKU soft serve lineup alongside Organic Vanilla — flavored with organic vanilla extract — and Organic Dutch Chocolate, made with real organic Dutch cocoa. All three are USDA Organic and Non-GMO certified and contain no artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. For operators running a batch freezer rather than a soft serve machine, Straus also offers an Organic Ice Cream Base, a 15% butterfat crème anglaise made with organic cream, milk, sugar, and egg yolks.

Channel Opportunity

At booth No. 228 at the Palm Springs Convention Center, Straus was running Plain samples on a PASMO America soft serve machine — a deliberate move to let buyers evaluate viscosity, draw speed, and overrun before committing to a case order. Samples were paired with caramel from King's Cupboard, a sauce maker in Red Lodge, Montana, illustrating a local-supplier layering story that resonates with the independent operator audience at Conecon.

For foodservice buyers evaluating soft serve programs, the organic positioning and machine-ready format lower the barrier to a premium frozen-dessert offering without requiring a full pastry or back-of-house team. Straus has supplied certified-organic dairy to foodservice customers since it became the first 100% certified organic creamery in the United States in 1994, giving the brand a long commercial track record in wholesale channels.

Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.

Frequently Asked Questions

What's the butterfat content, and why does it matter for my machine?

Straus Plain runs 10% butterfat, compared to 8% in their Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate mixes. That extra 2 points gives you better mouthfeel and overrun stability in soft serve machines, which means less product waste and smoother texture consistency through your service window.

Can I use this in my existing soft serve equipment without modification?

Yes. The mix pours directly into standard soft serve machines with zero prep required. It ships frozen in 1-gallon jugs—four per case—with a 180-day shelf life, so you load and run.

How much sugar are we talking, and what's the competitive angle?

Plain contains 30% less sugar than Straus's Vanilla Soft Serve Mix, hitting the clean-label demand from independent shops and fast-casual operators building organic positioning. It's a straight play against commodity vanilla bases from larger suppliers.

What allergen advantages does this give me?

The formulation contains no egg yolks, which eliminates that allergen concern and simplifies your back-of-house disclosure and cleaning protocols. For operators running multiple flavors through one machine, that's a real operational advantage.

How do I build signatures without switching suppliers?

The plain base is deliberately neutral and accepts matcha powders, flavored syrups, fruit purees, or other add-ins without clashing. You customize in-house and rotate seasonally without bringing in a third-party supplier or compromising your organic certification claim.