COLUMBUS, Ohio – July is a busy time of year at Velvet Ice Cream, in Utica, but this National Ice Cream Month is extra-special as the family-owned company celebrates its 100th birthday.
In 1914, Joseph Dager, who arrived in the U.S. as a 15-year-old in 1903, began making ice cream in the basement of his confectionery.
Dager built a manufacturing plant behind the confectionery and began selling ice cream to near-by grocery stores and restaurants, expanding into Columbus in 1937.
As the business grew, it moved outside of town, to the site of a gristmill first built in 1817. Ye Olde Mill, which sits among 20 acres of rolling hills and thick forests, one of the oldest ice cream factories in Ohio.
The mill houses an ice cream and milling museum, a restaurant, playground, picnic area and catch-and-release fish pond and hosts live music and entertainment every Thursday and Sunday throughout the summer.
Today, the fourth generation of Dagers operates the business which attracts more than 150,000 visitors a year and distributes its products far and wide.
The factory is observing its centenary with buy-one-get-one days, giveaways, new products and a 100th Anniversary Cookbook.
The company will be offering $1 sugar cones all day Sunday, National Ice Cream Day.
Velvet is marking its anniversary with the launch of four new all-natural flavors: Original Vanilla, Salted Chocolate Fudge, Vanilla Chocolate Duo and Bourbon Pecan.