Polar Ice Company

What Polar Ice Company does

Polar Ice Company is a privately-held, family-owned ice distribution and retail business operating from a single location at 47943 Van Dyke in Shelby Township, Michigan. The company has served the Detroit Metro area for over 35 years and sells two core commodity products: packaged ice (7 lb and 20 lb bags) and dry ice (sold by the pound with tiered cash-vs-card pricing). It also rents ice cream carts and merchandise trailers as event support services. Its customer base spans residential users (for emergencies, Halloween effects, and events), commercial restaurants requiring bulk ice, event organizers (weddings, picnics, fairs, church festivals), and a small niche of chemotherapy patients using dry ice for cold cap therapy, for whom the company offers special pricing.

The business operates a direct-to-consumer, local go-to-market model. Customers place orders by phone (586-254-1030), walk in to the Shelby Township storefront, or submit requests via a basic website form on polaricecorp.com. Commercial customers receive 24-hour service and regional delivery on request; residential customers primarily pick up during business hours. There is no proprietary technology stack, no digital platform, no app, and no e-commerce ordering — the website is a Hibu-hosted template with informational pages and a request form. Revenue is generated entirely through one-time per-transaction sales at low unit prices (e.g., $4.50 per 20 lb bag, $1.45-$1.90 per pound of dry ice), with no recurring contracts, subscriptions, or enterprise agreements.

The company has 1-10 employees, no disclosed funding, no parent company, no subsidiaries, no management team bios available, and no partnerships, certifications, or technology integrations on file. Operations are seasonal (winter hours noted) and constrained to Southeast Michigan, with no public evidence of geographic expansion, hiring activity, or strategic investments.

Name

Polar Ice Company

Legal name

Polar Ice Company

Website

https://polaricecorp.com

Company type

Private

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

1–10 employees

Short description

Polar Ice Company is a family-owned retailer and distributor of packaged ice and dry ice based in Shelby Township, Michigan, serving restaurants, event organizers, residential customers, and chemotherapy patients across the Detroit Metro area for over 35 years.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Headquarters

HQ city

Shelby

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices1 record

Markets served

GTM type

B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

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

Revenue model

1. Packaged Ice Sales: Sale of packaged ice in various sizes (7 lb and 20 lb bags) for events, restaurants, and personal use. One-time purchase per transaction.
2. Dry Ice Sales: Sale of dry ice by weight (per pound) with tiered pricing based on quantity ordered. Additional revenue from delivery fees charged on request.
3. Equipment Rentals: Rental of ice cream cart and ice cream/merchandise trailers for events such as weddings, company picnics, fairs, and festivals.

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion1 record

Distribution channels3 records

Marketing channels3 records

Core offering

Polar Ice Company manufactures and distributes packaged ice (7 lb and 20 lb bags) and dry ice (sold by the pound) from its Shelby Township, Michigan location, serving events, restaurants, residential customers, and specialty uses such as chemotherapy cold caps. The company also rents ice cream carts and merchandise trailers for events and provides 24-hour delivery service to commercial customers.

Product overview

Polar Ice Company is a family-owned ice delivery business offering packaged ice and dry ice as its core products, with over 35 years of service to the Detroit Metro area. The company provides 24-hour delivery services and also offers ice cream cart rentals and ice cream/merchandise trailer rentals as additional services. The packaged ice and dry ice products are sold both for pickup at their Shelby Township location and for delivery to customers.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Dry Ice

Named customers3 records

Segments4 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Scale indicators3 records

Recent moves3 records

Expansion highlights1 record

Direct peers

• Home City Ice Company: Regional packaged ice distributor serving the Midwest and Mid-Atlantic. Closely comparable business model — packaged ice production and distribution to foodservice, retail, and event customers via a regional depot network.
• Continental Carbonic Products: One of the largest producers of dry ice and liquid carbon dioxide in North America, supplying industrial, foodservice, and medical customers. Directly comparable on the dry ice side of Polar Ice's product mix, especially for medical/cold-chain and emergency use cases.
• Arctic Ice Services: Regional packaged ice distributor with overlapping foodservice and event customer base. Comparable in scale and go-to-market (local delivery, walk-in retail) to Polar Ice Company.

Broad incumbents

• Airgas (Air Liquide): Major industrial gas distributor (now part of Air Liquide) that supplies dry ice and CO2 to industrial, medical, and foodservice customers. Comparable on the dry ice portion of Polar Ice's offering, with much broader scale and product portfolio.
• Reddy Ice (now Arctic Ice): North America's largest manufacturer and distributor of packaged ice, formed by the combination of Reddy Ice and Arctic Ice. Directly comparable product (packaged ice) and customer base (foodservice, retail, events) at substantially greater scale and geographic reach.

Regional players

• Crystal Clear Ice: Regional packaged ice producer/distributor serving local foodservice and retail customers. Comparable product mix and customer type, but typically operates in a different metro area.
• Penguin Ice Company: Smaller regional packaged ice distributor serving a local U.S. market. Highly comparable operating model — local packaged ice and dry ice sales to restaurants, events, and walk-in customers — but in a different geography.

Others

• Polar Beverage Corporation: Regional bottler of seltzer and soft drinks with a related 'polar/cold' beverage positioning. Not a direct ice competitor, but an adjacent cold-chain beverage brand operating in a similar regional distribution model.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat3 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights6 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/PolarIceCorp

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

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 Polar Ice Company