People always ask me. Why did you start an ice cream business and why do you offer so many dairy-free options? Are you vegan, do you have allergies, are you lactose intolerant?

Well, the answer to the last three questions is no. What really happened is that there was a popular demand for these types of products, which we responded to. Ironically, it is these products that ended up defining us in the market place.

MaggieMudd started in 2002. We mostly carried dairy-products, but we also carried a few flavors of soy ice cream from a local manufacturer. It seemed like a good idea, as we knew a little bit about the alternative market, and that there was a demand for such products. We put out some ads in some local newspapers mentioning our offerings, and dairy-free ice cream was an important part of these. We started to notice non-regular customers coming in, people biking, busing, or hiking in who were not from our immediate neighborhood, and they always ordered the soy ice cream. It seemed like we were on to something.

However, one day we received notice that our local manufacturer was no longer offering soy ice cream in bulk form for foodservice. Now in panic, we sought out other vendors. National level suppliers did not have a good foodservice distribution channel at the time for bulk-type format, and they also didn’t have very many flavors.

So, we decided we’d make our own. But where to start? Soy, on its own, is difficult for many people to take because of its beany flavor. It’s hard to make it creamy and rich, since it has no butterfat. So, how do we make it taste like the real thing?

We never looked to other non-dairy products out there to be the standard for flavor and texture. Instead, we figured that the best way to make “fake” ice cream is to make it as close to the real thing as possible. And if we were clever enough, maybe we could make it even better. That is the philosophy that drove our development process.

As time passed, we got more and more loyal customers. People from all over town and even out of town, would stop by our Bernal Heights shop to try our dairy-free ice cream, get a dairy-free shake or sundae, or even a completely dairy-free ice cream cake. Soon, our customers were asking us to sell the product in grocery stores, so they could buy it where they shopped. And thus, we became a small manufacturer.

Today, many of your favorite places carry alternative products. Most eateries are happy to offer vegan and vegetarian products because such products round out their menu offerings and provide for new sales opportunities. The problem is not in the willingness of restaurants to offer alternative products, it’s in the distribution of those products to retailers. If an eatery is reluctant to carry your favorite fake-whatever, it guaranteed to be because the proprietor does not know where to get the product.

Dairy-free ice cream is particularly difficult for local eateries to get. Although health food markets carry a dazzling array of dairy-free pints, this format is not very suitable to foodservice usage. And there are as many different types of foodservice distributors as there are mock meats: they all carry different products, and they all have minimum purchase requirements. It might not be possible for a small cafe to buy $500 worth of alternative products from a distributor that it never would otherwise use.

It’s up to us manufacturers and retailers to try to create and sell more alternative products, if we want to see a wider acceptance of them. And it’s even more important to make these things taste good. So many times, we’ve had customers come into our shop, look at the soy ice cream, and say “yuck” without tasting it. Many products out there have a poor reputation on flavor, and this reputation follows the entire category wherever it goes. Our primary focus is on flavor and texture, and as long as we can somehow get our ice cream into the mouths of our customers, the bad rep that soy ice cream has traditionally had, suddenly starts to melt away. Now, we have non-vegan, non-vegetarian customers who are loyal to our dairy-free products, many times mixing dairy ice cream with non-dairy ice cream, just because they like the flavor combination.

As for customers, they should always ask eateries to carry alternative products. They’re doing a lot of people a favor by doing so. You can also work your angle from both directions. If you know an eatery that wants to carry dairy-free ice cream, and you know us, just hook us up. We love doing business. It’s what we live for.

But keep in mind that food manufacturing is also big business. Those Boca Burgers that you see in Denny’s and Johnny Rockets come at a cost which only a large manufacturer can afford. When you have national, co-branded deals like those, it’s expensive. So don’t expect to see your favorite MaggieMudd shakes in McDonald’s or Chili’s soon. As they say, think globally, but act locally. Start small, and changes will definitely come.

As for MaggieMudd, we think our retail shop has the biggest impact, with grocery store products giving us excellent support. We currently sell pints and “ice cream” cakes in health and gourmet stores in Northern California. From our shop, we serve a large selection of dairy-free ice cream, and we’re the only ones who offer completely vegan, made-to-order ice cream cakes. Choose a design, add writing, even a photo.

Our shop is located at 903 Cortland Ave., in San Francisco.