Grow the shops, keep one kitchen
Andia Xouris grew up in Cyprus, surrounded by cooks, and says food, family and hospitality were always at the centre of her life. She is also a two-time grandmaster ice cream maker, one of only four in the United States. She and her husband George opened Andia’s Ice Cream in 2014, and the business now spans four shops in North Carolina’s Raleigh-Durham area, a catering division and a national shipping team.
Growth was planned around one central kitchen, so quality would not drift as shops were added. A team of ten makes all the ice cream there, plus the compotes, most of the inclusions and a wide range of novelties.
“We say we scoop with love, and we truly mean it.”
— Andia Xouris
A partner on the end of the phone
Andia first heard about Carpigiani from her ice cream mentor, and says the machines changed the game for her business. She values how user-friendly and consistent they are, and that Carpigiani is always a phone call away when you are running production at scale. The central kitchen runs a Carpigiani LB 1002 RTX G, and the new production facility now being built will have Carpigiani at its centre too.
The flavours are where the creativity shows. Each shop offers 24 flavours, 18 permanent and six that rotate monthly, and Andia’s recipes have collected national awards. Her Cypriot roots appear in baklava and rose pistachio, while ube, mango sticky rice, tres leches and mango coffee reflect the community around her. Beyond scoops there are ice cream cakes, brûlées, cookie sandwiches, milkshakes, affogatos and even cakes and pup cups for dogs.
For anyone planning a multi-site ice cream business, the lesson is a practical one: centralise production, choose equipment you can rely on and let each shop focus on hospitality. Our batch freezer range and ice cream machines are where to start.
