Today we’d like to introduce you to LaToya Gardner.
Hi LaToya, can you start by introducing yourself? We’d love to learn more about how you got to where you are today?
Holy Rolly Charleston is a small business my husband and I started 3 years ago in October 2018. We are Veteran and minority-owned. We both quit our corporate 9 to 5 jobs and used our savings to buy a former package delivery truck. All we had to start was an empty truck and a dream… Our dream was to own our own business, be our own bosses, and set our own schedules so we can spend more time with our two children who are now age 8 and age 4.
We chose Rolled Ice Cream because we are two self-professed ice cream geeks and we knew we could achieve the goal of providing the freshest ultra-premium ice cream experience possible. We offer scratch-made rolled ice cream desserts in a cup, waffle taco shell, ice cream dessert sushi as well as “Sinful” rolled ice cream desserts (21+) that are infused with alcoholic sin sauces. Since putting together our business plan and working with our fabricator on our food truck, we hit the road and never looked back.
We have earned finalist nominations for Best Ice Cream, Best Desserts, and Best Food Truck in the Charleston area. We enjoy what we do because ice cream is a happy business.
Would you say it’s been a smooth road, and if not what are some of the biggest challenges you’ve faced along the way?
COVID-19 has provided the greatest challenge for our food truck business. We were booked to serve at mostly large festivals and school events and everything was canceled or postponed in early 2020 due to the pandemic. We had to completely rearrange our booking schedule and find smaller events where we could serve our customers. We decided to enable online ordering for a contactless experience as well as home delivery routes to our customers. We learned to adapt and I am proud of what we accomplished.
Alright, so let’s switch gears a bit and talk business. What should we know?
Holy Rolly is Charleston, South Carolina’s ORIGINAL rolled ice cream food truck bringing the tasty experience of rolled ice cream to a variety of low country venues.
So what exactly makes Rolled Ice Cream special???
1. Each individual serving is made fresh by hand using an artisanal method originated in Thailand. We are one of the few rolled ice cream shops that make our ice cream base by hand instead of pouring premade soft serve mixes purchased from wholesale and adding flavoring to them. Our signature ice cream base is made fresh with only 3 ingredients: Grade-A Milk, cream, and pure cane sugar. We roll our ice cream base on a stainless steel plate that freezes to below -20 degrees and we chop, mix, and fold a variety of fresh cobblers, cakes, and pies inside the ice cream base to make unique creations.
2. Rolled ice cream has virtually no overrun (AKA the amount of air pushed into the ice cream during the churning process). We. Are. Not. In. The. Business of. Churning air and that’s one of the things that distinguishes premium rolled ice cream! Since ice cream is sold by volume and not weight, the air is the invisible (and cheapest) ingredient incorporated during the churning process to stretch ingredients. Low-quality ice creams can have overrun as high as 100 %, meaning the “ice cream” is half air, melts quickly, stores poorly, and lacks flavor.
Premium ice creams are more flavorful but can still have an overrun of 50%. Rolled ice cream has little to no overrun because we don’t have to churn any air inside making it one of the most ultra-premium ice cream products available. We make our ice cream fresh by hand-rolling on a steel plate using quality ingredients which results in ultra-premium ice cream with a rich and creamy mouth feel an intense flavor profile.
3. Our method of making ice cream means we don’t have to incorporate air, powders, stabilizers, gums, emulsifiers, or added preservatives found in most ice creams. We pick each ingredient with care so that we can roll up the most decadently rich and luxuriously creamy rolls you have ever had. Rolled ice cream is one of the freshest and most superior ice creams in taste and quality and the method work for us so we are sticking to it!
Can you tell us more about what you were like growing up?
My family would describe me as a very shy but sweet child. I was kind, generous, and usually thought of others before myself. I did not like being in the spotlight or having extra attention to myself. I made good grades and I was always dependable and reliable. I was interested in reading, writing short stories, logic puzzles, and trivia games. I embodied the introvert stereotype.
Contact Info:
- Email: info@holyrollycharleston.com
- Website: www.holyrollycharleston.com
- Instagram: www.instagram.com/holyrollycharleston
- Facebook: www.facebook.com/holyrollycharleston
- Twitter: www.twitter.com/holyrollychs
Image Credits
Brisson Imagery LLC
