BROOKSVILLE, Fla. — Disney digs Emery Thompson. Carnival does, too.
Heck, a couple of fellas named Ben & Jerry started their own ice cream dream with an Emery Thompson machine in the trunk of their car.
Now, based in Brooksville after a century in the Bronx, Emery Thompson is a big delicious part of ice cream history — hard ice cream, that is, Italian ice and gelato, too — making influential "batch freezers" for more than 120 years.
What's the secret to supremacy?
"I think it's 50 percent hand-making the machines in the United States ever since we started in the Bronx 121 years ago," said company CEO Steve Thompson, the grandson of founder Emery Thompson.
"And the other 50% is customer service."
Emery Thompson has almost 40,000 customers in 141 countries. That's especially impressive considering the Brooksville location only houses about 22 employees.
Each one of Emery Thompson's machines is lovingly handmade by a small team. The technology hasn't changed all that much since 1905, a classically brilliant design.
The company even gives seminars to small-business owners on how to run successful ice cream shops.
"We love talking to all of our customers," said Steve, who moved the company to Florida 20 years ago. "We're here for them day and night, weekends, too."
For more on Emery Thompson, go here.
