Mister Goodies and the Vegan Revolution in Lynchburg

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Written By Andrew Ulrich

“I will never sell that Vegan stuff in my ice cream shop!” I’ll never forget hearing those words from another ice cream shop owner at a business convention in Virginia Beach. It made no sense to me. It was becoming more apparent by the day that the trend towards a Vegan lifestyle was growing fast. But other business owners in the ice cream world didn’t want to hear about it. “I’ve got shaved ice. That’s good enough.” is a common mantra espoused by the old world of ice cream entrepreneurs but it simply doesn’t cut the mustard (or ice cream) in the modern age. If you’re an ice cream shop and you don’t have Vegan options (made with a premium almond or oat milk base) or maybe you even have 1 or 2 dairy free flavors, that’s not enough and you’re falling behind. Listen to your customers and start offering or expand your Dairy Free offerings.

It started in 2017 when we opened our homemade ice cream shop in Boonsboro. Lines went out the door every day but we heard a recurring them. “Do you have any dairy free or vegan options?” We looked around Lynchburg, Virginia and realized that NOBODY had Vegan ice cream. How is this possible, especially as Central Virginia continues to grow and with 5 colleges in Lynchburg alone, it was time for Mister Goodies to disrupt the market and introduce our line of Vegan and Dairy Free offerings. 1 or 2 flavors isn’t enough. Much like our customers who enjoy Dairy, our Vegan customers want ample options too, so we crafted our Vegan almond milk base, added it into our batch freezer (machine that makes the ice cream), but what about the inclusions? We noticed many of our dairy free/vegan clientele in Lynchburg had gluten sensitivities as well. It was that realization that led us to use 100% gluten free add ins to make our Dairy Free ice cream 100% gluten free as well. Instead of traditional Oreos, we use gluten free Oreos.

Making the Vegan ice cream at our on-site commercial kitchen. (image by Colin Schwager)

Since 2017, we were the first in Lynchburg, Virginia to offer Dairy Free/Vegan ice cream and currently offer more Vegan flavors than any place else. From Dark Chocolate Cookies & Cream to Cake Batter or Brownie Marshmallow, we are proud to offer our unique and delicious Vegan flavors to the Lynchburg, Virginia community. Our current flavors are (but subject to change due to seasonality)

  • Dark Chocolate Cookies & Cream

  • Mint Cookies & Cream

  • Cake Batter

  • Vanilla

  • Brownie Marshmallow

  • Peanut Butter Cookies & Cream

  • Pineapple Dole Whip

  • Mango Dole Whip

We can substitute any of these flavors into our sundaes or milkshakes. One thing is for sure, Mister Goodies has everything you can think of for your Vegan and Dairy Free needs. Come see us at our Timberlake location and try our Vegan offerings!

Andrew Ulrich