Ollie’s Frozen Custard scoops into new season
Courtney Hollifield, Kishwaukee Community College nursing major eats cookies and cream frozen custard at Ollies re-opening Wednesday afternoon.
February 22, 2012
After 27 years in business, Ollie’s Frozen Custard, 2290 Oakland Drive in Sycamore, scooped into a new season Wednesday.
Ollie’s will be experiencing some changes this season, said co-owner Joe Cranden, including the sampling of some new flavors in May, opening up a side window in the summer to get the line moving faster and increasing some of the prices for certain items.
“We’ve had to raise prices due to the cost of goods,” Joe said. “The cost of goods has sky-rocketed in the last couple of years. We’re doing our best to keep prices as low as we can.”
Even with price increases, however, Joe said Ollie’s customers are extremely loyal. The establishment had a customer waiting for 20 minutes before their window opened Wednesday.
Co-owner Valerie Cranden said they are not worried about new competition with the recent opening of Aspen Leaf Self Serve Frozen Yogurt, 1013 Lincoln Highway in DeKalb.
Valerie and Joe have owned Ollie’s for the past 13 years and prior to that Valerie worked for the previous owners for 10 years before they retired. The Crandens said they have seen other chains pop up and their customers might try out what these places have to offer, but eventually they come back to Ollie’s.
Although Valerie said she couldn’t speak on the nutritional value of custard over frozen yogurt, she did say custard is creamier than traditional ice cream because of the way it’s processed.
“Custard is not as airy as yogurt or ice cream,” Valerie said. “The air is whipped out so it’s firmer.”
Most ice creams are 60 percent air but custard has to be 18 percent, Joe said. Custard also contains egg yolks and must be at least 10 percent butterfat.
The precise combination of creamy custard and assorted toppings, keep customers coming back each year.
“Never close down or we’ll die,” said Bekah Walker, Kishwaukee Community College student.
Walker said going to Ollie’s, especially in the summer, is a tradition with her and her friends.
“We’re looking forward to a fun season, serving our customers a superior product,” Joe said.
