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Tropical Dreams ice cream brings local flavors to Big Island consumers
by Karen Anderson
Special To West Hawaii Today
Sunday, April 29, 2007 10:57 AM HST
 When John and Nancy Edney of Hawi decided to get into the ice cream business, little did they know their delicious sorbet, yogurt, sherbet and superpremium ice cream would be embraced by the finest resort restaurants on the island. And with a little luck, their savory concoctions boasting 160-plus flavors will soon become a household name across the state.
"All of our cream derives from dairies on this island," said John Edney, president of the Waimea-based company along with his wife Nancy, who serves as vice president. "The ingredients we use are the very best we can find."
It's a match made in ice cream heaven. Nancy's background working for Wolfgang Puck -- along with attending the Culinary Institute in New York and owning her own catering business -- gives her the ideal perspective for creating custom flavors for chefs, as well as perfecting traditional and island-inspired flavors using as much locally grown fruits and produce as possible.
A 30-year marketing veteran in the transportation industry, John has just the right know-how for promoting and transporting the product. Together, the husband/wife team serves up plentiful scoops of aloha to an ever-increasing marketplace.
While Tropical Dreams product line is primarily available on the Big Island, it can now be found at the Hula Grill on Maui. The company also has a distributor on Oahu that sells to restaurants.
"We haven't pushed too hard to expand off the island, but we will in the future," said John Edney, who notes the obvious logistical challenges of shipping ice cream to the mainland.
Tropical Dreams and its sister company, Hilo Homemade Ice Cream, have been in business for more than 20 years, founded in Kapaau in 1983. According to John Edney, sales are two-and-a-half times what they were when the couple purchased the business in 2001. The company has recently acquired a new home on a five-acre property in Waimea at the Lalamilo Farm lots, relocating from its previous facility in Kawaihae -- admittedly the hottest and most unlikely spot on the island for producing ice cream.
The new, cooler property includes 15 large greenhouses currently producing vegetables and produce, as well as a 10,000-square-foot facility previously owned by the Honolulu Poi Company. With new, energy-efficient equipment and refrigeration, the company has reduced its electric bill by 20 percent, says John Edney.
"A lot of our fruit comes from Hilo, but with our new facility, we'll be able to start growing some of our own fruit, like cantaloupe. We are working with the Hawaii Tropical Fruit Growers Association to develop new flavors and expand the use of local fruit."
Among the top favorite flavors include coffee mac nut; green tea; lychee cream; mango cream; organic white pineapple; dragon fruit; passion; blueberry cheesecake; banana nut; and guava. Of the 50 to 60 regularly produced flavors, Tahitian vanilla consistently ranks the most popular.
Tropical Dreams Ice Cream is considered superpremium ice cream by industry standards. It is made with cream containing 18 percent butterfat. The rich, dense product is achieved through a process called "low overrun," which reduces the amount of air mixed in during the freezing process. By contrast, most supermarket ice cream is 10 to 12 percent butterfat with a high percentage of its volume taken up by air.
As a small-batch producer, Tropical Dreams is able to create custom-ordered flavors for chefs and caterers.
"A chef might call me asking for something unusual like curry-flavored ice cream to be served with apple pot pie," explains Nancy Edney. "I work back and forth with the restaurant on refining the intensity of the flavor and then we do some test batches. Most of the time, they're happy with it."
Sometimes liquor-flavored ice creams are commissioned for special events. The folks at Tropical Dreams always comply, creating such flavors as Jack Daniels or champagne using real liquor.
While Tropical Dreams Ice Cream can be found at many of the high-end resort restaurants along the Kohala Coast, it is also served at such establishments as Fujimamas and the recently opened Fish Hopper restaurant in Kailua-Kona. Dipping stations are featured at select locations throughout West Hawaii including at Discovery Antiques in Kealakekua, Daylight Donuts in Keauhou and Kohala Coffee Mill in Hawi, a store previously owned by the original Tropical Dreams owners.
In addition to being voted best ice cream on the Big Island in a 2006 West Hawaii Today reader's poll, Tropical Dreams has recently been licensed by the Hawaii Department of Agriculture to use its seal of quality on its label, the only ice cream company with the prestigious designation.
Tropical Dreams also is featured in Emily Luchetti's dessert cookbook. Luchetti is the executive pastry chef at the Farallon in San Francisco and a recent recipient of the James Beard Foundation Award for Best Pastry Chef in 2004.
For Kona resident Nathalie Sato, Tropical Dreams Ice Cream is a favorite treat.
"I first tried it at Discovery Antiques and loved it. If I see it on the menu at a restaurant, I'm always inclined to order a scoop, or two."
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