The decision to raise the prices was not simple. We want to make sure that our ice cream and desserts are affordable to everyone; however, there are several factors that led us to the decision to change the prices and menu.

In 2009, we made a slight change to the prices, but have not looked at them since. With rising food and labor costs, and our upcoming busy summer season, we were forced to reevaluate our prices and came to the conclusion that an alteration is necessary for us to continue at our current level of production.

We are also giving our menu a much-needed update & face-lift, and you may notice that there are now Single and Share sizes.  This strategy has been implemented as a way to cut back on the waste generated from ice cream that is not eaten (as you know, some of our portions are very large!).

Thank you to all of our customers for your support and understanding with this change. As usual, if you have any questions or concerns please feel free to contact us at any time.

Our inspiration (and the statistics and information for this blog) came from The Children’s Book Bank, an amazing local organization that donates new and gently-used children’s books to families in poverty all around the Portland metro area. If a children’s book drive seems somewhat non-essential, think about the following:

• 2/3 of low-income families own no books for their children. Books may be considered an unnecessary luxury; however, early exposure to books is extremely important for developing literacy skills.
• Children who have not had early access to reading end up significantly behind other children in early literacy skills such as knowledge of letters and their sounds, left to right eye movement, concepts of print, rhyming, sequencing, etc.
• Gathering 100,000 picture books from the community would provide 5,000 young children with twenty books to call their own, giving parents the tools to help their children develop the early literacy skills needed to become successful readers and learners.

To help support this cause, come to Ice Cream Renaissance and donate new or gently-used children’s books in our donation box starting on December 4th and continuing through December 23rd. We will accept the following donations:

• Board books
• Picture and/or alphabet books
• Books about numbers, colors, animals, shapes and words, story books, rhyming books, Dr. Seuss books, and books in Spanish
• Early chapter books in great condition
• NO encyclopedias, musty or damaged books/coloring books, and school textbooks.

We very much appreciate your donations and support. Keep in mind, if you bring a new or gently-used children’s book to our Holiday Ornament Decorating party on Sunday, December 4th from 2-4pm, we will give you a free scoop at the party!

Thanks! And from everyone here at ICR: Happy Holidays!

So why should you try ours as opposed to the brands and flavors you already know?  Our ice cream is made from mostly local ingredients (unfortunately, vanilla doesn’t grow well in our climate).  We make all of the ice cream in small, three gallon batches.  The standard that we have set for our flavors is 35% overrun. This basically means that there is less air in our ice cream than many brands out there, meaning you get more ice cream per pint!

So make sure to stop by New Seasons and pick up a pint of your favorite flavor.  Remember, if they don’t have it in stock, you can always come see us at our Main Street location to pick up any of our current flavors, hand packed while you wait.  See you soon!