Branching out of fine dining was a novel experience for Houston multiconcept operator Berg Hospitality Group. But that doesn’t begin to capture how far it veered from the usual in its latest venture, a fast-casual operation called Buttermilk Baby.
Consider, for instance, the starring menu role it’s given Fudgie the Whale.
If that name means nothing to you, odds are you’re not from the Northeast. If you are, any swooning will be forgiven. Just a mention of Fudgie will pull up memories of the soft-serve cones and frozen cakes that Carvel has sold for 90 years along the nation’s Atlantic coast.
Fudgie was the marquee-name cake character, though the exact same ice cream mold was used for a lesser light, Lucky the Leprechaun. And he was incessantly promoted in TV commercials that featured gravelly-voiced chain founder Tom Carvel, whose unique but decidedly unpolished voice-overs made the ad spots highly memorable.
Berg Hospitality is hoping to capitalize on that nostalgia, and turn non-Easterners into hardcore Fudgie fans, through Buttermilk Baby, a highly unorthodox collaboration with Carvel, now a part of GoTo Foods’ restaurant portfolio. The venture is intended to resemble the soda fountain-studded pharmacies that once dotted Southern towns, with Carvel featured as the brand of ice cream. In addition to forming Fudgie, the soft-serve will figure into cones, Flying Saucer ice cream sandwiches and boozy shakes.
Other menu options include what Berg Hospitality CEO Ben Berg calls “Southern-leaning things,” including biscuits and fried chicken.
Buttermilk Baby has a retro feel with modern touches. | Photo: Kirsten Gilliam
The format is fast-casual, with two self-service kiosks. The seating includes fountain-style stools in front of what is known internally as the cone station, where the Carvel is dispensed.
To make the collaboration happen, Berg Hospitality opted to become a franchisee of Carvel, which has about 350 units elsewhere. The arrangement calls for the multiconcept operator to develop at least 10 Buttermilk Baby branches in Texas, with the lease for the second store already signed.
How it happened
Both parties acknowledge the uniqueness of the arrangement.
For one thing, Berg Hospitality had made a name for itself in full service and fine dining, not limited service. “I had it in my head for a while to get into fast casual,” said Ben Berg, “bringing in chef-quality food and stripping everything down.”
That led to the idea of doing a retro soda fountain with modern-day touches like kiosks to create “a new nostalgia,” he recalls.
An investor in one of Berg Hospitality’s restaurants had a girlfriend who’d grown up in Long Island, a big part of Carvel’s traditional market territory, and he talked up the brand. Ben Berg himself had lived in Manhattan, so he, too, was no stranger to the brand.
He was aware that Carvel was not nearly as well known in Texas. Yet “it was an enthusiastic ‘go’ for me,” he recalls. He believed the quality would instantly win favor from the non-initiated. Plus, “There’s nothing gimmicky about Carvel. It’s classic.”
The hard part was convincing Carvel to go ahead with the partnership. The franchisor said the back-and-forth began in the summer of 2022. The “i” dottings and “t” crossings took about six months, according to Berg. Included was making every single item on Buttermilk Baby’s menu for Carvel’s culinary team. Every recipe that included Carvel ice cream had to be approved.
“They wanted to do some unique-to-them menu items,” explains Marissa Sharpless, Carvel’s VP of marketing. “We wanted to make sure that they understood the brand’s history and perception.”
Those variations included boozy shakes, a marked departure from the family-friendly products Carvel had sold for nearly a century. Berg saw the drinks as a way of appealing beyond families and children to adults in the 25-to-30 age bracket.
“That was a tough decision [for them],” says Berg. The ironclad commitment was arranging operations so there was no way, no how a child could end up with one of the alcohol-infused treats. Plus, Carvel’s home office didn’t want the shakes to be merely one of Carvel’s signature products laced with alcohol. A different recipe had to be used.
“You’re not walking into a Carvel shop and seeing boozy shakes, you’re walking into a Buttermilk Baby,” Sharpless says in explaining the go-ahead. In addition, the home office ensured the drinks “delivered on the quality and taste” that Carvel regarded as its DNA.
The chain welcomed the opportunity to bolster awareness of its brand in Texas. “Ben being a longtime Carvel fan, we were incredibly excited,” recalls Sharpless. “We are drawn to those who have a personal connection to the Carvel brand.”
And while the chain had never co-developed an operation with a party outside the GoTo Foods family, Carvel had been joining forces with sister brands. Indeed, GoTo Foods has been a big proponent of co-locating complementary concepts. Those ventures include Cinnabon Swirl, a mashup of GoTo’s Cinnabon cinnamon bun concept and Carvel. Two of the hybrids have been opened to date.
“We have been co-branding with our sister brands for several years, and it really opened the door for something like this,” says Sharpless.
Now, she says, the chain would be willing to entertain similar arrangements as a way of entering new markets.
That decision was likely simplified by the strong initial reaction to Buttermilk Baby, which opened on Sept. 6.
“I had projected that Carvel would account for about 15% to 18% of sales,” says Berg. “Now I think we’ll be up around 20%.”
With an average check of about $20 per person, that translates into about $4 of every order going on average toward Carvel products.
Fudgie may be in line for a raise.