Family-owned Taste The Tropics has been making authentic Caribbean ice cream since 1978, growing from a neighborhood parlor into a wholesale producer and distributor serving the Tri-State area. Its recipes use real Caribbean fruit and natural ingredients, preserving the island flavors that first set the Brooklyn-based company apart. The brand’s 32-ounce containers are sold through supermarkets and specialty retailers, with frozen shipping available for customers farther afield.
Island PopsBorn from a Trinidadian couple’s craving for soursop ice cream, Island Pops makes Caribbean-inspired ice cream, ice pops and sorbets by hand in Brooklyn. Khalid Hamid and Shelly Marshall founded the company in 2015 after developing their recipes and winning a local business-plan competition, later opening their Crown Heights flagship in 2018. Using natural ingredients, including fruit sourced mainly from the Caribbean, Island Pops also ships its small-batch frozen desserts nationwide and caters events in the tri-state area.BROOKLYN, NY
DeJaFrut All Natural SorbetFounded in 2013 by twin sisters Marie and Maria Wilson, DeJaFrut makes small-batch, all-natural Jamaican sorbet from fruit purchased from island farmers. The family-owned Montego Bay business began as the Wilsons’ answer to Jamaica’s lack of a fruit-based frozen dessert and now reaches more than 100 retail outlets, alongside a line of spirit-infused sorbet cocktails. DeJaFrut is dairy-free and made without artificial dyes or preservatives, and carries Made in Jamaica certification.BROOKLYN, NY
Coutts Ice CreamCoutts Ice Cream began in 2010 when the Coutts family decided Paupack Blueberry Farm’s fresh local blueberries deserved better than a manufactured ice cream, so they started making their own premium homemade ice cream. The family-run shop also makes homemade fudge and gives local growers space to sell produce when available.HAWLEY, PA
Purity Ice Cream CoFounded by Cornell graduate Leo Guentert in 1936, Purity Ice Cream makes small-batch ice cream in Ithaca, where the locally owned shop remains a Finger Lakes institution. Guentert began with natural ingredients and a drive to improve chocolate ice cream; today, Purity’s more than 30 flavors are scooped at its shop and shipped nationwide, with scratch-made bakery items and food served alongside them.ITHACA, NY