10K Scoops Traverse City 2024: Rotary Square

Caroline Winternheimer on June 28, 2024

Our second 10,000 Scoop Challenge event of 2024 was incredible! We traveled up to Traverse City, MI, on Thursday, June 13, and of course we had to bring Cherry Moose Tracks to the Cherry Capital of the World! OUr team partnered with Country Fresh to serve 10,000 scoops of FREE Country Fresh Cherry Moose Tracks and Original Moose Tracks Ice Cream and raise $10,000 for The Salvation Army of Traverse City.

The event took place in Rotary Square, which was surrounded by local businesses and located just a couple of blocks away from Lake Michigan. It was a gorgeous summer day – not too hot or cold to grab a free scoop of Cherry Moose Tracks and Original Moose Tracks. We had an amazing crowd from beginning to end and our wonderful volunteers from The Salvation Army of Traverse City were a huge help in scooping and handing out ice cream to all who joined.

We invited local celebrity scoopers like TV news reporters, city administrators, police officials and Coast Guard officers to help us hand out ice cream. The Traverse City Pit Spitters official mascot, Monty, joined our mascot, Tracks, and handed out goodies to the crowds. Speaking of goodies – We gave out exclusive merch like Cherry Moose Tracks bucket hats, friendship bracelets and Traverse City-themed stickers 🍒 The turnout was outstanding!

Did you have a chance to stop by and see us? Make sure you tag us in your photos and use the hashtag #10KScoops!

See more 10K Scoops photos on our Flickr!

10K Scoops Tampa 2024: Lykes Gaslight Square Park

Caroline Winternheimer on June 21, 2024

Our first 10,000 Scoop Challenge of 2024 was a success! Our team traveled to Tampa, Florida, on Thursday, June 6 and partnered with Mayfield Dairy Farms®️ to serve 10,000 scoops of FREE Mayfield Original Moose Tracks Ice Cream and raise $10,000 for The Salvation Army of Tampa, Hillsborough County.

The event took place in Lykes Gaslight Square Park, right in the heart of downtown Tampa. It was sunny skies and 98 degrees; the perfect weather to cool off with a free scoop (or two) of Original Moose Tracks. Many wonderful volunteers from The Salvation Army helped us set up, scoop, hand out ice cream and happily greet all who joined.

ABC Action News Tampa Bay (WFLA-TV) joined us in the afternoon, and Mayfield’s official mascot, Maggie the Cow, joined our mascot, Tracks, for tons of fun photos with the crowds. We even had a face painter and photobooth on-site for people to enjoy all day long.

Did you have a chance to stop by and see us? Make sure you tag us in your photos and use the hashtag #10KScoops!

See more 10K Scoops photos on our Flickr!

Resources for Emerging Ice Cream Manufacturers & Brands

denalibrands on April 27, 2024

Part of what makes Moose Tracks so fun is that we’re able to work with so many unique dairy processers and brands across the United States and Canada. Some of our relationships date back to 1988, with dairy companies that have been making amazing ice cream for over 100 years. And some of our brand partners are new in their space and looking to expand their footprint as they navigate the new world of brand management and manufacturing.

The ice cream industry is an incredible group of people in that we all want each other to succeed. It is not lost on us that attending industry events is essentially being put in a room with your “competition”, yet it is never viewed this way. It’s almost like a family reunion! With this, we have some great trade associations who have worked hard to create resources that have been vetted by our veteran partners as a great road map for success.

The first resource we recommend is safeicecream.org. It provides a ton of great food safety and manufacturing materials and even breaks it down by state! Several ice cream trade associations collaborated on this website, and it is updated regularly.

Secondly, we’d suggest the Ice Cream Technology Conference as an annual event to get to know other businesses in your industry and learn about the latest advancements in ice cream. It’s usually held in April, and attendees range from large manufacturers, suppliers, to emerging brands. A variety of R&D, regulatory, and executive team members attend. It’s also usually in a beautiful and warm location, so that doesn’t hurt!

Lastly, the Penn State Ice Cream Short Course covers virtually every topic when it comes to safe, quality ice cream processing. It’s also a great opportunity to meet peers in the ice cream space. It’s a weeklong commitment, and you’ll come away with a ton of valuable information that you’ll use for years to come. Many of our colleagues in our industry have attended, whether early in their careers, or as a way to reinforce the knowledge they’ve gained throughout the years. Kenny on the DB team is an ’94  Penn State Short Course grad, Caroline is ’19 grad, and Cam a ’21 grad!

We’d love to hear from you! Do you have any recommendations for resources to add to this? Do you have any questions for us? Please reach out!

A Spring Update from the Denali Brands Team

Caroline Winternheimer on April 15, 2024

Moose Tracks ice cream and Chocolate Moose Tracks ice cream on pink background with yellow flowers

Spring is in the air! As we look forward to this new season, we can’t help but feel the energy that new life and development brings to our work as well.

The first quarter of our year was spent settling into our new roles and sorting through the logistics of a newly re-established business. We liken it to a new startup, but with the roots and community of a longtime business. Now that insurance, job roles, and office space have been determined, we can focus on the fun stuff: the Moose Tracks brand!

A major focus so far has been understanding what makes Moose Tracks so unique to consumers. We feel that if we can strengthen the consumer relationship to Moose Tracks, it in turn helps drive sales for our brand partners. We’ve combined study of social media trends with Nielsen data to solidify the Moose Tracks story. What we’re learning is that consumers know and love Original Moose Tracks, but they’ve also been finding joy experiencing some of our newer or more unique flavors, like Caramel Brownie Moose Tracks, Cookie Dough Moose Tracks, and Chocolate Peanut Butter Moose Tracks.

The first non-dairy Moose Tracks flavor was launched in 2023 as well. This new flavor, Cherry Maximum Fudge Moose Tracks, performed the best of the brand lineup it was positioned in.

Now that we’ve onboarded a new accounting and admin team member (welcome, Tracy!), be on the lookout for a new product guide and dedicated support for accounting and royalty management. We are also working on our 10,000 Scoop Challenge event lineup for this summer, a charitable event that allows us to give back in hyper-local ways, as well as meet consumers face-to-face and give them a memorable Moose Tracks experience.

Additionally, our team has been exploring some unique opportunities for Moose Tracks outside of the ice cream space. You may have seen some press coverage on a Banana PB Moose Tracks protein-enhanced nutritional blondie, recently launched with Core Nutritionals. We feel strongly that these opportunities only strengthen the Moose Tracks connection with consumers and will drive ice cream sales in the long-term, as well as raise brand awareness. It’s a win-win!

We sincerely hope you’re gearing up for a great ice cream season ahead. If there’s any way we can support you, please reach out!

Warmly,
The Denali Brands Team

Announcement from Denali Flavors

Caroline Winternheimer on December 1, 2023

As many of you know, Denali Flavors was established in 1988 as a flavor licensing company. The company started with Original Moose Tracks® and soon offered a variety of licensed ice cream flavors. In the time since, Denali Flavors has focused heavily on the Moose Tracks brand and other Denali Classics flavors.

In 2006, Denali Flavors purchased a manufacturing facility in Wisconsin and formed a new company, Denali Ingredients, to manufacture ingredients for the ice cream industry. In November of 2022, a majority share of Denali Ingredients was sold to Orkla Food Ingredients.

As part of this acquisition, a plan was set to continue a long-term partnership between Denali Ingredients and Denali Flavors, but to allow for Denali Flavors to operate as a standalone flavor licensing company once-again.

Beginning January 1, 2024, Denali Flavors will operate independently, known as Denali Brands. This will allow the Denali Brands team to focus on the Moose Tracks brand and our wonderful licensees. Rest assured that our commitment to you remains the same and we hope to provide even more support! Denali Ingredients will continue to be the exclusive supplier of legendary Moose Tracks Fudge, and we look forward to working together to bring you the delicious Moose Tracks experience.  

Please explore our website for more information!