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2010 sofi™ Silver Finalists
Philip R’s Frozen Desserts named 2010 sofi ™ Silver Finalist for Outstanding Perishable Foodservice Product
By the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade
Winchester, MA (April 22, 2010) – Philip R’s Frozen Desserts has been selected as a Silver Finalist for Outstanding Perishable Foodservice Product in the 2010 sofi™ Awards from the National Association for the Specialty Food Trade, Inc. The sofi Awards recognize excellence in specialty foods and beverages and are a coveted industry honor. “sofi” stands for Specialty Outstanding Food Innovation.
Swiss Vanilla Almond Lollibons® were one of 125 Silver Finalists selected by a national panel of specialty food experts from 1,570 contenders across 31 Awards categories. Gold Winners will be announced in a red-carpet ceremony June 28 at the Summer Fancy Food Show in New York.
The sofi Awards are open to members of the NASFT, a not-for-profit trade association established in 1952 with more than 2,900 members throughout the U.S. and abroad. For more information on the NASFT and its Fancy Food Shows, go to www.specialtyfood.com
“The field was very competitive, with entries up 12 percent from 2009. The finalists represent the breadth and quality of our members’ distinctive products,” said Ann Daw, president of the NASFT. “It is clear that our industry is moving forward with innovation, inspiration and creativity.”
Philip R’s Frozen Desserts Contact:
Philip Rotondo, Owner, 781-721-6330, philipjr@icecream-desserts.com
NASFT Media Contacts:
Ron Tanner, VP Communications & Education; 646-878-0115, rtanner@nasft.org
Louise Kramer, Communications Director; 646-878-0130, lkramer@nasft.org
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Hotel F&B Executive
May/June 2005, page 32
Please click here to read the
"GET THE SCOOP" article. It is on page 2 of the PDF file. You need the
Acrobat Reader to read the file which can be download from here.
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Press Release:
April 15, 2004
Philip R’s Frozen Dessert Company, based in Winchester MA, is celebrating
its 10th anniversary with great news. Philip R’s high quality ice
cream and sorbet desserts are now available online at www.icecream-desserts.com.
Food service operators can now log on and order any of the unique ice
cream and sorbet desserts with nationwide direct delivery. Whether you
need that show stopping intermezzo or grand finale dessert, Philip R’s
is very helpful in assisting chefs to complete their menu.
Also available, to assist your kitchen staff, are pre portioned ice cream
and sorbet scoops. Now, adding ice cream and sorbet to your menu couldn’t
be easier. Scoops are available in any size and flavor of ice cream or
sorbet. Eliminate the anxiety of serving ice cream and sorbet at your
next catered affair by choosing Philip R’s Frozen Desserts.
Visit www.icecream-desserts.com or call 1-877-4desserts to get the scoop.
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Boston Business Journal
February 1, 2002 print edition
Entrepreneur
Their just desserts
Father-and-son team keep it simple with their Philip R's Frozen
Desserts
Jill Lerner Journal Staff
WINCHESTER -- Philip Rotondo and Philip Rotondo Jr.
had one goal in mind when they founded their frozen-dessert company in
1996 -- to make sorbet. Hence the original company name, Philip R's Simply
Sorbets.
Their catering customers were more ambitious on their
behalf.
Soon after the father-and-son team debuted their product,
clients clamored for ice cream, individual desserts and special orders.
Those requests -- some as off-beat as blue cheese and
green tea ice cream flavors -- helped the Rotondos last year scoop up
business-to-business sales of just under $1 million.
They employ 10 full-time workers and oversee 4,000 square
feet of office and kitchen space in Winchester, as well as another 4,000
square feet of storage space in Medford. And the company's name has since
evolved to Philip R's Frozen Desserts.
"We can call them up on a couple days' notice,
and they always come through," said Mark Flemming, pastry chef for
the Rockland-based Catered Affair, for whom Philip R's has concocted specially
requested ice cream flavors such as honey and nugget.
But it all started, simply, with sorbet.
After graduating from Merrimack College in 1993 with
a degree in marketing, Philip Jr., now 31, tried his hand at a variety
of jobs, including stints at a parcel-shipping company and a scuba-diving
shop. None captured his imagination.
Then Philip Sr., now 53, a veteran of the food service
industry who had worked in the family frozen-dessert business and later
as a business consultant, tasted some bad sorbet at a function in 1996.
"It was lemon, and it tasted like straight lemon
juice," he recalled.
The Rotondos knew they could do better, and, since both
had been looking for more fulfilling jobs, they decided to try.
They set up shop in cramped warehouse space in Woburn
with $10,000 worth of used equipment and devised recipes on their own
using fresh ingredients. Then Philip Jr. began cold-calling hotels and
caterers.
Soon, the Rotondos landed a series of accounts, including
one of its earliest, the Sheraton Boston hotel.
The chef there ordered 50 gallons of raspberry sorbet,
sending the Rotondos -- who had all of 5 gallons in stock but who had
touted themselves as being able to deliver any order -- into a round-the-clock
frenzy.
During the next few months, they added a veritable who's
who of food- industry clients, including the Four Seasons and Boston Park
Plaza hotels.
In short order, "the customers forced us into expanding
the line," said Philip Sr
And after slowly adding items, the Rotondos last year
debuted an entire catalog of frozen treats.
Confections range in price from miniature sorbet hearts
at about 65 cents apiece to white-chocolate swans at $3 apiece.
Other offerings include individual ice cream tortes,
truffles, profiteroles and -- among the most popular items -- tiny, realistic-looking
fruit-shaped sorbets.
The key to the line's popularity, says Mark Polito,
executive chef at the Progressive Gourmet, an Everett-based banquet foods
distributor, is its gourmet quality.
"You need to find products people think you're
making yourself," said Polito, whose company distributes the Philip
R's line.
The Rotondos design all of the items themselves, and
wen t so far as to arrange the desserts themselves during the photo shoot
for the catalog.
"I guess we're a little bit on the creative side.
We had kind of a vision of what we wanted the product to look like,"
said Philip Jr.
While the Rotondos don't anticipate selling their goods
directly to consumers anytime soon, the business continues to grow.
Philip Jr., whom his father credits with running the
company for the past three years, recently closed deals with Haagen-Dazs
to market and distribute the line to the metro New York area, and has
signed deals with New York hotels including the Marriott Marquis.
The company is now eyeing Orlando, Fla., and the Baltimore/Washington
markets for the wealth of convention activity in those places.
But despite the warm, personal relationship between
father and son, things weren't always easy in business.
"There was a time ... when it was difficult for
me to hand the reins over," said Philip Sr.
"Old guys are set in their ways, (and) I had in
my mind a certain way to do things."
In time, however, Philip Sr. says he learned to rephrase
his sentences from "you should have" to "I would have"
and to ease into the role of elder, experienced statesman.
Now, Philip Sr. says, "I'm the sounding board ...
`Dad, what do you think?' "
And?
"I think he's doing terrific."
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