Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there?

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (lil2slow)

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 08:56:37 GMT

It's called IcyProfits.com (sorry couldn't provide link in last post)

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (lil2slow)

Thu, 14 Feb 2013 08:56:00 GMT

There seem to be a lot of folks looking to start this Italian Ice cart business. And the OP asked if there was anyone else out there. There is a community & info. site at that caters to just this business. It's loaded with wholesalers, cart manufacturers, commissary links, sink products and more.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Swamp)

Fri, 13 Aug 2010 21:16:27 GMT

yeah, We sell our carts as seen on the youtube video link in an above post in this thread. The same specs as lil jimmys carts actually for almost half the cost. $1500 for the cart. There is no "welcome package" or such garbage with us. No minimum orders or anything like that. You can order 1 tub of ice or an entire pallet of ice if you want. Keeping your costs down while in the start up phase is very important. All you need is the cart, some tubs of ice, cups, spoons and scoopers to make money.... and you shouldn't be spending and arm and a leg for these items just to get started.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (iceyhot)

Tue, 10 Aug 2010 10:04:01 GMT

does anyone have any prefrences on italian ice carts. personally some of them seemed way over priced. i like little jimmys but theeir packages are to expensive. Penguinn ice is good ice but horrible customer service do not buy a cart from them. I seen nelson carts but again on the high end. does anyone have any suggestions

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (ice4u)

Tue, 29 Jun 2010 17:25:13 GMT

Try Scara's Italian Ice. They have a great selection of flavors and they are very helpful. You can also order carts.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (JaysItalianIce)

Mon, 31 May 2010 18:19:34 GMT

Hello everyone, I'm starting to sell Italian Ice here in FL. Can anyone from FL selling Ice give my info on there license and inspection requirements. Thanks Jay

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (olddude2)

Sat, 29 May 2010 08:02:00 GMT

selling any thing from a cart in Florida other then boiled peanuts, or uncut whole fruit, requires a commissary, there are 3 regulatory agencies in Florida, you must check with all 3 . the AG dept. the HD dept, and the dept. of bis and pro regulations.
in some areas where your inspector is your friend and neighbor, sure you can skip some steps. but to be legal you need to pay attention to the above.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Swamp)

Fri, 28 May 2010 00:00:12 GMT

FriedTater

Swamp, thanks for the e-mail. Still investigating this. Trying to downsize. The information and our chat on the phone was great.

Thanks! It was great speaking with you also and I hope that we do again.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (FriedTater)

Thu, 27 May 2010 23:39:37 GMT

Swamp, thanks for the e-mail. Still investigating this. Trying to downsize. The information and our chat on the phone was great.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (_TR_)

Thu, 27 May 2010 19:09:52 GMT

Swamp

paul v

Swamp,

I am brand new to this site and the thought of starting my own Italian Ice vending cart. Although I have been in the restaurant business for years, I am willing and excited to take this route due to the working for myself deal. At the moment I do not have anything up and running (cart, license, permits etc.). If there is any advice such as where to start and how to, carts, what type of events and anything else you want to throw at me, please feel free, I would love to hear it.

Thanks,
Paul

I have a TON of advice for you lol. I will PM you my information so as not to write a novel on the board here.

The number one advice I have is to not over pay to get started. You shouldnt have to pay more than around $3000 for EVERYTHING to start. if you are paying much more than that then you are very much overpaying. It should be under $3000 to have what you need to start. Be frugal and don't buy a bunch of things that you don't need or before you need them. The idea is to make money, not spend it :) I look fwd to speaking with you Paul.

Swamp, I would appreciate it if you could send me your Italian Ice info. Thanks!

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Swamp)

Tue, 25 May 2010 00:58:00 GMT

paul v

Swamp,

I am brand new to this site and the thought of starting my own Italian Ice vending cart. Although I have been in the restaurant business for years, I am willing and excited to take this route due to the working for myself deal. At the moment I do not have anything up and running (cart, license, permits etc.). If there is any advice such as where to start and how to, carts, what type of events and anything else you want to throw at me, please feel free, I would love to hear it.

Thanks,
Paul

I have a TON of advice for you lol. I will PM you my information so as not to write a novel on the board here.

The number one advice I have is to not over pay to get started. You shouldnt have to pay more than around $3000 for EVERYTHING to start. if you are paying much more than that then you are very much overpaying. It should be under $3000 to have what you need to start. Be frugal and don't buy a bunch of things that you don't need or before you need them. The idea is to make money, not spend it :) I look fwd to speaking with you Paul.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Swamp)

Tue, 25 May 2010 00:48:16 GMT

FriedTater

Swamp, caan you be more specific in the size of the chest freezer to store the 26 buckets of italian ice? And how many buckets come on a pallet?
Thanks

I have emailed you FriedTater :)

For reference, however, we ship to your home or to a business or to a cold storage warehouse... whatever you prefer. Our pallets can have as many as 80 buckets on them but we will ship you as many or as few as YOU need. Everybody has different budgets and different storage capacity so we are willing to send as many as you want and we don't have minimum order requirements.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Swamp)

Tue, 25 May 2010 00:47:32 GMT

The issue with them is that they send 60 per pallet and if you don't have the chest freezers on hand to handle that amount then you need to find a cold storage somewhere, whether it be a cold storage warehouse or a local grocery store or restaraunt that allows you to store in their facility.
When I started I found a locally owned grocery store that allowed me to do it for $30 per month.
Italian Ice has no dairy, there is no temperature issues like ice cream as to what it needs to be served at or anything like that.
I would think that Italian Ice would be much more simple to vend than shaved ice and I guarantee it is MUCH more popular and sells better than shaved ice. On top of that, with a cart you are mobile and can be much more dynamic from event to event or location to location.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (JodyP)

Mon, 24 May 2010 10:23:13 GMT

I checked into the Italian ice a couple of years back. Little Jimmy’s used to have a free down load booklet available. It explained all the particulars about the business. If I remember correctly there is a problem about storing the ice. Something about storing and serving at a certain temperature. Also it has to be shipped to a cold storage facility. We are looking at putting a deposit down today on a 7’ x 14’ Horton Concession trailer and are seriously looking into a shaved ice machine and package from 1-800-SHAVEDICE. We figure that we can sell shaved ice, tropical drinks & hotdogs during the warmer weather months and switch over to coffees and hot drinks if we do any cold weather gigs.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (FriedTater)

Thu, 20 May 2010 23:13:58 GMT

Swamp, caan you be more specific in the size of the chest freezer to store the 26 buckets of italian ice? And how many buckets come on a pallet?
Thanks

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (paul v)

Thu, 20 May 2010 03:21:00 GMT

Swamp,

I am brand new to this site and the thought of starting my own Italian Ice vending cart. Although I have been in the restaurant business for years, I am willing and excited to take this route due to the working for myself deal. At the moment I do not have anything up and running (cart, license, permits etc.). If there is any advice such as where to start and how to, carts, what type of events and anything else you want to throw at me, please feel free, I would love to hear it.

Thanks,
Paul

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Swamp)

Thu, 20 May 2010 02:08:01 GMT

Ready2start

Hi Swamp, I am interested in seeing a picture of you cart as well. Can you send me an email with the picture and the dimentions to

Sure! just look 3 posts above this one and click on the link so that you can view the carts!

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Swamp)

Thu, 20 May 2010 02:05:30 GMT

Ready2start

Hello all, I am ready to start an italian ice business in Miami, Fl. I was looking into purchasing the plan from Little Jimmy's that includes the cart, umbrella, signage, tshirts, hats, cups and 60 -5 gallon tubbs of product, however I am having trouble reaching a live person at the health dept to give me a little insight on what needs to be done. I am also having trouble finding a resonable cold storage warehouse to store the product. If you have any info that may help me get this show on the road before the start of summer please let me know!!!!!!

I think that you may find that a lot of your money is wasted on some of these items.

You would do better to make your own signage. The T-shirts and Hats are not needed and do not add anything to your appearance or make you more noticeable. The cups are not as good as simply purchasing your own styrofoam cups ( they hold up much better than the flimsy and SMALL paper cups). The scooper is too small and you can find good ones for very cheap at Wal Mart that work great. Going with these "packages" make you spend $thousands$ more than you need to in order to start up.

The carts/Umbrellas are also very expensive in comparison to actual cost.

You should research a bit before you commit to paying all of that out for a lot of stuff that you wont use at all. I know, I did it when I started up and was very unhappy to learn that I wasted thousands that I didnt need to and never had use for much of it. Many of our vendors started out by making the same mistake. You would do much better for yourself to avoid the startup "packages". They are a waste.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Ready2start)

Sat, 15 May 2010 16:26:31 GMT

Hi Swamp, I am interested in seeing a picture of you cart as well. Can you send me an email with the picture and the dimentions to

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Ready2start)

Sat, 15 May 2010 16:16:47 GMT

Hello all, I am ready to start an italian ice business in Miami, Fl. I was looking into purchasing the plan from Little Jimmy's that includes the cart, umbrella, signage, tshirts, hats, cups and 60 -5 gallon tubbs of product, however I am having trouble reaching a live person at the health dept to give me a little insight on what needs to be done. I am also having trouble finding a resonable cold storage warehouse to store the product. If you have any info that may help me get this show on the road before the start of summer please let me know!!!!!!

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Swamp)

Sat, 01 Aug 2009 21:14:18 GMT

Dare,

We have several vendors that order Italian Ice from us and receive the Italian Ice directly at their home where they have a few large chest freezers. We sell the ice in plastic 3 Gal. tubs and a pallet of these tubs can easily be unloaded by hand in a few minutes time doing it one or 2 tubs at a time. A large (not largest, just large) chest freezer can fit 26 3 gal. buckets in them if that helps you. If unloading it by hand is not an option for some reasone we can always send a truck with a lift gate that will drop off the pallet for you. Distributors should be more flexible and either way it is not an issue to get the ice to you if you talk to the right people.
Regarding your cart purchase. These are the carts that we sell for Italian Ice. They are $1500:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-il83GAtkoI

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Florida_Ice_Man)

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 21:58:25 GMT

IceMan1969

Florida_Ice_Man

Hey everyone!

I'm new to this Forum...does anyone have a link to a place online that makes and sales those Italian Ice Umbrellas wholesale?

Thanks in advance!!

Where in Florida are you? Just google "Italian Ice" push cart or cart umbrellas and you'll get hits. Also try places like craigs list in their "for sale" sections and search there. Also just about any company that manufactures carts will also usually sell umbrellas as well. Are you just in the planning stages so far? Take care........Neil in Florida

I'm over in Tampa, ya, I already did a Google search and I can't find a 2 tone that says Italian Ice on it, some of these are REALLY expensive!!
and yes just beginning...I think I'm going to be getting my Ices from Flava Shack, they are local and I don't have to go the Cold Storage route and also order more than I need.

Thanks!

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (IceMan1969)

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 18:10:31 GMT

Florida_Ice_Man

Hey everyone!

I'm new to this Forum...does anyone have a link to a place online that makes and sales those Italian Ice Umbrellas wholesale?

Thanks in advance!!

Where in Florida are you? Just google "Italian Ice" push cart or cart umbrellas and you'll get hits. Also try places like craigs list in their "for sale" sections and search there. Also just about any company that manufactures carts will also usually sell umbrellas as well. Are you just in the planning stages so far? Take care........Neil in Florida

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Florida_Ice_Man)

Mon, 27 Jul 2009 17:53:33 GMT

Hey everyone!

I'm new to this Forum...does anyone have a link to a place online that makes and sales those Italian Ice Umbrellas wholesale?

Thanks in advance!!

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (dare)

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 10:27:32 GMT

Neil, I haven't purchased a cart... yet.. I've looked at lil Jimmy's and another one (drawing a blank what it's called right now) I'm all about buying 2 or 3 large chest freezers and storing everything myself.. My problem is simply figuring out how to get the product off a truck.. I've talked with about 4 cold storage places, and at least 6 different shippers and hardware stores, but I haven't found any yet who are willing to receive the product. I came close with one hardware store but as soon as I said it's ice they immediatly said no way. I think there worried about liability...? I think my step is looking at self storage sites I don't know if they do receiving from trucks or not. If not though I guess I'll look at local food distributors and see what they offer. I'm in Indiana so I doubt there is a lot of choices though for italian ice.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (IceMan1969)

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 03:42:55 GMT

Dare, how are you doing? I am in the planning stages of my italian ice business and have learned a lot of good information along the way. As far as the cold storage facilities my advice would be to keep calling and eventually one of them will rent out smaller spaces to accomodate your say 1 pallett of ice. I know in Florida where I am they rent out all different sizes for different space needs. Also do you have the option to maybe buy a chest freezer and use your garage or rent garage space out to store the Italian Ice? I know this is what I want to do eventually. The closer to home I can keep my equipment and product the better. Do you have a cart yet and do you know who you want to buy your Italian Ice from yet? Take care.....Neil

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (dare)

Sun, 26 Jul 2009 01:52:48 GMT

Another question for everyone. I have been researching a way to receive italian via a freight truck. I've checked with close to a half dozen cold storage places and they won't have anything to do with me unless I'm storing dozens of pallets with them. How is everyone receiving there product? and if by freight any suggestions?

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (suem961)

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 16:21:46 GMT

Hi,

I realize now how much there is to consider after just beginning my research. I am in south Florida and am in the process of learning permit requirements thru the state Dept of AGr. and now the county.I am completely unfamiliar with all of it and am taking careful steps to make sure that I have all the correct info...a big feat in itself. I would love any advice regarding the correct cart to purchase or the most cost effective approach to take. I have heard that Nelson carts are very good ,but it appears that would run me about $3000 . Please feel free to email me at suem961@comcast.net I would love your advice ,I have so much to learn .
Thanks SUE

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (IceMan1969)

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:44:54 GMT

Swamp right now I am up in the air as far as where I will be purchasing my Ice. I am looking into local distributors as well as national ones. We are still in the planning stages and probably won't be launching this until the fall at the earliest and possilbe next spring at the latest.

Re:Italian Ice Pushcart Biz, anyone else out there? (Swamp)

Fri, 19 Jun 2009 11:39:01 GMT

IceMan1969

Hey Swamp what is your email addy? Would like to see a picture of your Italian Ice Cart and find out the specs. Thanks.......Neil in Florida........

Neil,

You can reach me at info@kpsindustries.com or at canadasino1@yahoo.com

Either one is fine and I can definitely show some pics. We even do individual carts for personal name brand recognition (for example: "Neil's Ice"). Also, Where do you expect to get your product from? Do you make your own ice or purchase it?