The Collab

United Dairy Farmers (UDF) is adding a snack-brand crossover to its Homemade Brand™ ice cream lineup, launching Fun Food Crunch — a co-branded 16-ounce pint developed with Cincinnati chip maker Grippo Foods, Inc. — at more than 170 UDF retail locations and Cincinnati-area Kroger stores the week of August 16. The limited-time SKU is exclusive to those two banners while supplies last.

The flavor combines buttered popcorn ice cream, a Bar-B-Q spice-infused caramel swirl, and chocolatey crunchy pretzel pieces — a sweet-salty build that draws directly on Grippo's signature BBQ potato chip profile. Together the two family-owned companies claim nearly 200 years of combined tri-state history, giving the collaboration a local-heritage angle that regional operators have increasingly leaned on to drive impulse purchases in the freezer door.

Why It Matters

For UDF, the release extends Homemade Brand beyond its core ice cream parlor identity into CPG-style co-branding — a tactic that generates earned media and shelf differentiation without permanent portfolio commitment. The chain, founded in 1940, already operates more than 170 convenience and ice cream parlor locations across Ohio, Kentucky, and Indiana and runs a wholesale manufacturing arm that includes Homemade Brand™, UDF Brand®, and Main Avenue Creamery® lines. Its U-Drive Plus loyalty program was recognized by USA Today as one of America's Best Loyalty Programs in 2026, giving UDF a mechanism to market the limited drop directly to enrolled members.

"This collaboration brings together two hometown brands that share a commitment to quality, family values and creating products people love," said Michael Ahmed, Chief Executive Officer of United Dairy Farmers. John Dourson, Vice President of Sales for Grippo Foods, framed the deal as a category extension for the snack maker: "Partnering with another family-owned Cincinnati institution like UDF and Homemade Brand allowed us to create something unexpected that honors our history while giving fans of both brands a new way to enjoy flavors they already know and love."

Channel Context

Snack-to-frozen crossovers are a growing feature of c-store foodservice and proprietary product strategy, as operators seek exclusive SKUs that grocery and QSR competitors cannot easily replicate. Regional chains with in-house manufacturing — UDF being a clear example — are particularly well-positioned to move quickly on limited-time items tied to local brand equity. The Grippo's partnership mirrors moves by larger chains that have co-developed roller grill seasonings or dispensed beverage flavors with regional snack or sauce brands to deepen community identity.

For Kroger's Cincinnati-area stores, the placement puts a c-store brand's proprietary ice cream on a grocery freezer shelf — a reverse channel flow that underscores how operators with manufacturing scale can treat grocery as a distribution outlet rather than a competitor. UDF's broader wholesale and private-label ice cream business already operates in that space, making the Grippo's pint a natural extension of an existing B2B sales motion.

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.