A Flavor For Every Day Of The Month

Sometimes all you need is a nice sweet dessert to go with your dinner. When the temperature is still warm, but not unbearably hot. When fall has just started, but it hasn’t gotten to chilly or windy. This is perfect ice cream weather. I eat slow so I look like a five-year-old who is racing against time to eat faster than it drips. Living in South Korea has been interesting because it is a nice balance of culture and modernization. Stores like Baskin-Robbins were initially a shock to see, but after understanding the company’s vision, philosophy, and success, one can understand how they are able to thrive so well internationally.

Burt Baskin and Irvine Robbins were brother in laws because Burt married Irv’s sister in 1942. The two started several ventures in ice cream that later became part of the whole Baskin-Robbins franchise. Irv had some experience while working in his father’s ice cream shop, while Burt made ice cream for the soldiers during his time in the Navy as a Lieutenant. Once the war ended the Burt and Irv began their ice cream dream and opened two different stores, which were called Burton’s Ice Cream in Pasadena and Snowbird Ice Cream in Glendale. The two stores grew to six and before long Baskin-Robbins was born.

To maintain the same high quality and standards, it was important for the two to focus on management style and the production process. Since the two would only have their first dairy in 1949 which would ultimately allow them to develop, create, and invent flavors, they made sure that only managers that shared an interest in taking part in ownership of the company. In the mid-20th century franchises were already popular, but not as much in the ice cream realm. In 1953, Burt and Irv were able to fully integrate their previous store titles into the franchise we see today.

The name came from being able to have a different ice cream flavor for each day of the month. The colors were chosen to bring about nostalgia of fairs, carnivals, and clowns. Maybe not Pennywise, but you get the idea. Their famous pink spoons were created to allow customers to sample as many flavors as they wanted free of charge to ensure that their flavor decision was well thought and satisfying. In less than ten years of being in the business, Baskin-Robbins went on to win their first Gold Medal at the Los Angeles County Fair. Their business went on to be adopted into the international market with stores in northern and southern hemisphere. Don’t be too surprised if you see one on your next vacation abroad.

"Not everyone likes all our flavors, but each flavor is someone's favorite."

— Irv Robbins