Gunther's Ice Cream

What Gunther's Ice Cream does

Gunther's Ice Cream is a privately held, family-owned ice cream manufacturer and retailer headquartered at 2801 Franklin Blvd, Sacramento, California. Founded in April 1940 by Herman 'Pop' Gunther and his wife Iva, the company produces ice cream on-premise using an original 1940s recipe that incorporates a higher percentage of butterfat cream than commercial brands, processed via a slow-churn, hand-controlled method that yields over 40 flavors of ice cream plus novelty treats, Real Fruit Freezes, hand-made cakes and pies, milkshakes, and specialty drinks. The company's flagship operation is a single retail storefront open daily 11am-9pm, housed in a 1949 Googie-style building designed by Koblick and Fisher and recognized as a historic landmark on the Sacramento Register of Historic and Cultural Resources in 2018.

The business operates three revenue streams. The first is direct retail at the Sacramento storefront with sales of scoops, hand-packed pints, quarts, half gallons, sundaes, novelties, cakes, and pies. The second is wholesale ice cream distribution, in which company-owned delivery trucks supply 100+ restaurants, hotels, and establishments across the Sacramento metro and surrounding Northern California and Central Valley cities on scheduled Monday-Friday delivery zones, subject to a 2-tub minimum order with COD payment. The third is catering, delivered through exclusive partnerships with Rich's Ice Cream Catering and Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Cart. Direct-to-consumer online ordering is available via ToastTab and DoorDash. The current owners, Rick and Marlena Klopp, have operated the company since purchasing it from Carl Buchell in 1974 and continue to manufacture to the original Gunther family recipes. The company has no disclosed venture capital, private equity, or institutional investor involvement, no disclosed revenue, and no headcount disclosure.

Name

Gunther's Ice Cream

Legal name

Gunther Ice Cream

Website

https://gunthersicecream.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

1940

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Gunther's Ice Cream is a family-owned Sacramento ice cream manufacturer and retailer, founded in 1940, that produces on-premise hand-churned premium ice cream from an original 1940s recipe and serves individual consumers at its landmark storefront, 100+ wholesale accounts via company-owned delivery trucks, and catering partners across Northern California.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisanal Ice Cream / Frozen Desserts

NAICS

Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Manufacturing (311520)

SIC

Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts (2024)

akta.pro primary industry

Ice Cream (Hard Pack) Manufacturing (AFAHAEAA)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ice Cream, Frozen Desserts & Novelties Manufacturing (AFAKAKAE), Ice Cream & Gelato Shops (THAFAGAA), Ice Cream & Frozen Dairy Wholesale (AFAIAEAF), Ice Cream Cakes & Frozen Dessert Bakery Manufacturing (AFAHAEAH)

Keywords

• Handcrafted ice cream
• Artisan frozen desserts
• Wholesale ice cream
• Ice cream parlor
• Frozen novelty treats

Headquarters

HQ city

Sacramento

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Supply Chain, Personnel, Operations, Marketing or Sales, Infrastructure

Revenue model

1. Direct Retail Sales: On-premise ice cream sales at the Sacramento landmark location, including scoops, cones, containers, sundaes, novelties, and specialty drinks. Products sold include hand-packed pints, quarts, and half gallons, as well as hand-made ice cream cakes and pies. DoorDash and ToastTab online ordering available.
2. Wholesale Ice Cream Distribution: Gunther's manufactures ice cream on-premise and delivers to 100+ restaurants, hotels, and establishments in the Sacramento area via company-owned delivery trucks. Orders require 48-hour advance notice, minimum 2 tubs (6 gallons). COD payment for delivered or will-call orders. Delivery available Monday–Friday to defined delivery zones.
3. Catering Partnerships: Rich's Ice Cream Catering and Sweet Tooth Ice Cream Cart exclusively use Gunther's Ice Cream for their catering needs, driving B2B volume through catering partner relationships.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion2 records

Distribution channels4 records

Marketing channels4 records

Core offering

Gunther's Ice Cream is a Sacramento-based ice cream parlor and manufacturer producing hand-crafted, slow-churned ice cream using an original 1940s recipe with higher butterfat content than commercial brands. The company sells scoops, novelties, hand-packed pints, quarts, half gallons, hand-made ice cream cakes and pies, fruit freezes, and specialty drinks directly at its landmark storefront and through a wholesale delivery program serving 100+ restaurants, hotels, and establishments across the Sacramento metro area.

Product overview

Gunther's Ice Cream operates as a single-location ice cream parlor in Sacramento, California, founded in 1940. The product portfolio centers on their signature hand-churned ice cream made from an original 1940s recipe with higher butterfat content. Beyond their core ice cream, they offer Real Fruit Freezes, hand-made cakes and pies, novelty treats, and specialty beverages. Their products are available at the historic Sacramento location and through a wholesale program supplying over 100 restaurants and specialty shops in the Sacramento area. They also partner with third-party ordering platforms (Toast Tab, DoorDash) for customer convenience.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Gunther's Ice Cream
• Real Fruit Freezes
• Ice Cream Cakes & Pies
• Hand-Made Novelties
• Specialty Drinks
• Wholesale Ice Cream Program

Quantifiable outcome

• Over 100 Sacramento-area wholesale accounts served
• +1 more outcomes

Named customers4 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration2 records

Feature2 records

Partnerships

Two partnerships are on record, tiered minor.

• Rich's Ice Cream CateringminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRich's exclusively uses Gunther's Ice Cream for all catering needs. The catering company features Gunther's ice cream as the core product in its catering service offerings.
• Sweet Tooth Ice Cream CartminorChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorSweet Tooth exclusively uses Gunther's Ice Cream for all catering needs. The ice cream cart company uses Gunther's products as its exclusive ice cream for mobile catering events.

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves7 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Broad incumbents

• Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams: Nationally distributed premium ice cream brand with proprietary dairy-direct sourcing and a direct-to-consumer shipping business — operates in the same premium/artisanal segment as Gunther's but at national scale with grocery and online channels.
• Van Leeuwen Ice Cream: Premium scoop shop and grocery brand founded in Brooklyn that has expanded to multiple U.S. cities and into national grocery distribution — operates in the same premium artisanal segment and competes in foodservice/wholesale channels.
• Salt & Straw Ice Cream: Premium scoop shop chain started in Portland and now operating across multiple West Coast cities, with house-made small-batch ice cream positioned around artisanal flavors — comparable artisanal-and-premium positioning, but at significantly larger scale and reach.
• Talenti Gelato: Nationally distributed premium gelato brand owned by Unilever, sold primarily through grocery and D2C channels — competes for premium-ice-cream consumer dollars and foodservice accounts within the same category as Gunther's.
• Häagen-Dazs: Mass-market premium ice cream brand owned by Nestlé, with broad grocery, scoop shop, and foodservice distribution — competes with Gunther's in the high-butterfat, premium-quality segment that the Gunther's recipe explicitly references.
• Tillamook County Creamery Association: Oregon-based farmer-owned dairy cooperative that produces a nationally distributed line of premium ice cream alongside its cheese and dairy products — comparable as a regional heritage dairy brand extending into premium ice cream at much larger scale.

Direct peers

• Bi-Rite Creamery: San Francisco artisan ice cream maker with a flagship scoop shop, on-site production, and active wholesale program to local restaurants — directly comparable retail-plus-wholesale artisanal model to Gunther's.
• Ample Hills Creamery: Brooklyn-based scoop shop chain producing small-batch, premium ice cream on-site from proprietary recipes with active wholesale and grocery distribution — operates a near-identical artisanal-plus-wholesale model to Gunther's.
• Sweet Rose Creamery: Small-batch artisan ice cream maker with house-made production and a small footprint of scoop shops plus grocery wholesale — closely comparable to Gunther's in scale, production philosophy, and channel mix.
• Mitchell's Ice Cream: Long-standing San Francisco heritage ice cream parlor (est. 1953) that manufactures ice cream on-site from original recipes and sells both retail and wholesale to Bay Area restaurants — closely comparable business model, scale, and channel mix to Gunther's.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Instagraminstagram.com/gunthersicecream

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles2 records

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Gunther's Ice Cream