Whitey's Ice Cream
Encyclopedia
Moline, Illinois
Moline is a city located in Rock Island County, Illinois, United States, with a population of 45,792 in 2010. Moline is one of the Quad Cities, along with neighboring East Moline and Rock Island in Illinois and the cities of Davenport and Bettendorf in Iowa. The Quad Cities has a population of...
. This ice cream
Ice cream
Ice cream is a frozen dessert usually made from dairy products, such as milk and cream, and often combined with fruits or other ingredients and flavours. Most varieties contain sugar, although some are made with other sweeteners...
has been an icon of the Illinois and Iowa Quad Cities
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
since it was founded in 1933.
History
Chester Lindgren opened the first store on the corner of 16th Street and 23rd Avenue in Moline, IL. He was nicknamed "Whitey" due to his white-blonde colored hair. In 1935 Lindgren hired 15 year old Bob Tunberg, who worked for him throughout high school and several years after. In 1953 Lindgren sold the store to Tunberg.Tunberg and his wife, Norma, made ice cream during the day, and sold their product in the store at night. In 1979 the business was expanded when a second store opened in Moline, IL. After the success of this second store as well as the addition of several more Illinois stores the first Iowa store was opened in 1984 in Bettendorf, IA.
Present
Whitey's Ice Cream is currently owned by Bob Tunberg's sons, Jeff and Jon Tunberg. They work side-by-side as Co-Owners of the company, and the title, President, remains open in honor of their late father, “The Quad-Cities Favorite Ice Cream Man,” who died in 1991. They currently operate nine locations in the Iowa and Illinois Quad CitiesQuad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
, as well as stores in Iowa City, IA and Coralville, IA. They also maintain a retail stand at the i wireless Center during sporting events. Customers may also order the ice cream from Whitey's website, where it can be shipped anywhere in the continental United States.
In 1988, Whitey’s Ice Cream saw a dramatic change with the addition of a Wholesale Department and entrance into the grocery store market. This allowed Whitey’s Ice Cream packaged ice cream to be purchased from many more outlets. The Wholesale Department currently distributes to grocery stores and schools in a one hundred mile radius of the Quad Cities
Quad Cities
The Quad Cities is a group of five cities straddling the Mississippi River on the Iowa–Illinois boundary. These cities, Davenport and Bettendorf and Rock Island, Moline, and East Moline , are the center of the Quad Cities Metropolitan Area, which, as of 2010, had an estimated population of...
. Stores carrying Whitey’s Ice Cream include, Hy-Vee
Hy-Vee
Hy-Vee is an employee-owned chain of supermarkets located in the Midwestern United States. Over 100 of its supermarkets are located in Iowa, with additional stores in Illinois, Kansas, Minnesota, Missouri, Nebraska, South Dakota and now Madison, Wisconsin...
, Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. , branded as Walmart since 2008 and Wal-Mart before then, is an American public multinational corporation that runs chains of large discount department stores and warehouse stores. The company is the world's 18th largest public corporation, according to the Forbes Global 2000...
- Sam's Club
Sam's Club
Sam's Club is a chain of membership-only retail warehouse clubs owned and operated by Wal-Mart Stores, Inc., founded in 1983 and named after Wal-Mart founder Sam Walton. , the Sam's Club chain serves more than 47 million U.S. members...
, Super Target, Jewel
Jewel (supermarket)
Jewel-Osco is a supermarket chain headquartered in Itasca, Illinois, a Chicago suburb. Jewel-Osco has 182 stores across northern, central, and western Illinois; eastern Iowa; and portions of northwest Indiana.Jewel-Osco and Jewel are currently wholly owned subsidiaries of Eden Prairie,...
, Fareway
Fareway
For information in regard of the former Merseyside based bus operator Fareway see MTL Trust Holdings LtdFareway is a retail grocery store chain based in Boone, Iowa. It has more than 100 stores, most of them in Iowa, three in Nebraska and Illinois, and three in Minnesota. Founded by Fred Vitt and...
, SuperValu and Econo Foods.
Innovations
Whitey's Ice Cream is known for their extra thick shakes and malts which can be held upside down. This is due to their innovation of high powered malt machines and careful preparation by trained Whitey's employees. They also credit themselves with the creation of candy bar shakes and chocolate chip cookie dough ice cream. They also worked to develop a "No Sugar Added" ice cream sweetened with SplendaSplenda
Splenda is the commercial name and registered trade mark of a sucralose-based artificial sweetener derived from sugar, owned by the British company Tate & Lyle. Sucralose was discovered by Tate & Lyle and researchers at Queen Elizabeth College, University of London, in 1976...
brand sweetener targeted toward diabetics.
One of Whitey’s newest flavors is Sgt. Camo, which is a camouflaged colored ice cream made from Graham Cracker, Marshmallow Ice Cream, and a ribbon of Whitey’s Famous Fudge. All profits from the sale of Sgt. Camo are donated to various military veterans groups.
Sgt. Camo has been sent to the Pentagon
The Pentagon
The Pentagon is the headquarters of the United States Department of Defense, located in Arlington County, Virginia. As a symbol of the U.S. military, "the Pentagon" is often used metonymically to refer to the Department of Defense rather than the building itself.Designed by the American architect...
, and also to military and their families before troops are deployed to Iraq
Iraq
Iraq ; officially the Republic of Iraq is a country in Western Asia spanning most of the northwestern end of the Zagros mountain range, the eastern part of the Syrian Desert and the northern part of the Arabian Desert....
and Afghanistan
Afghanistan
Afghanistan , officially the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan, is a landlocked country located in the centre of Asia, forming South Asia, Central Asia and the Middle East. With a population of about 29 million, it has an area of , making it the 42nd most populous and 41st largest nation in the world...
.
Honors
Whitey's Ice Cream has been called the "Best in the Midwest" by readers of the Midwest Living Magazine. It has also been featured on the Food NetworkFood Network
Food Network is a television specialty channel that airs both one-time and recurring programs about food and cooking. Scripps Networks Interactive owns 70 percent of the network, with Tribune Company controlling the remaining 30 percent....
's Food Finds television show. In 2007 Whitey's Ice Cream was announced as the winner of the Fourth Annual Ice Cream Store of the Year Award known as THE PASSION AWARD given by the Ice Cream University.
Whitey’s Ice Cream belongs to a number of organizations, including the International Dairy Foods Association, the National Federation of Independent Businesses and the Fellowship of Companies for Christ International.