The 1980s 'ice cream of the future' Dippin' Dots is in Shanghai

Photograph: Martin Lewinson, CC BY-SA 2.0

The scoop of the future from the past joins us in the present. Nitrogen-frozen pellet ice cream brand Dippin' Dots, which markets itself as 'the ice cream of the future', is known in America for randomly cropping up in amusement parks, sport arenas, shopping malls and vending machines, but never in grocery or convenience stores.

There's a reason for that, so it's not really random, but more on that later. Now, Dippin' Dots has randomly cropped up in Shanghai, with three locations open (two in Pudong and one near People's Square) and more on the way. So now all of us can get a taste of the future here in Shanghai. It's very cold and beady.

Photograph: RadioActive, public domain

According to PR Newswire, the Kentucky-headquartered company announced its China debut in a press release back in June. The company has partnered with local company Shanghai Desire Food, and together they plan to open six locations this fall and a total of ten by May 2019. Dippin' Dots co-brand Doc Popcorn will be along for the ride.

Dippin' Dots was invented in 1987 by microbiologist and ice cream enthusiast Curt Jones, by way of researching more efficient ways to process cow feed. He first discovered that flash-freezing cow feed in liquid nitrogen made it easier to process. He then tried the same process with his own homemade ice cream mix. Enter Dippin' Dots.

Video: via QQ

In America, Dippin' Dots is widely recognised for its absence in grocery stores contrasting with its presence in the odd shopping mall, theme park or vending machine. That's because most grocery stores lack proper cold storage for the liquid nitrogen-frozen ice cream, so the the ice cream has to be aggressively marketed through other venues. But at least the ice cream's pellet-form makes it easier to mix flavours.

More recently, Dippin' Dots made the news when old tweets from former White House Press Secretary Sean 'The Spicer Must Flow' Spicer resurfaced, revealing the public figure's years-long personal vendetta against the ice cream brand. The tweets reemerged during his first month as Press Secretary, and Spicer resigned seven months later. There could be no other possible reason for his resignation.

Image: via Twitter

We have not yet had a try of Dippin' Dots in Shanghai. It's something nobody asked for, really, but could it be the thing we didn't know we wanted, because it's ice cream from the future and we can't see into the future to know what we needed but didn't know we wanted? Maybe. The future will tell.

📍 Third Floor, Room 320, Shimao Plaza, 928 Nanjing Dong Lu, near Jiujiang Lu.

📍 3611 Zhangyang Lu, near Jinqiao Lu, Pudong.

📍 Second Floor, 288 Zhangyang Lu, near Century Avenue, Pudong.

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