Innovation

Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream’s business model encompasses their company values: innovation and sustainability. The company believes that it can make ice cream without compromise. Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream creates ice cream with locally sourced ingredients with an emphasis on benefiting their employees, customers, and farmers. Co-Founder/Co-Owner Pete Mitchell said it best when stating that, “we always want to be making progress, whether it be working with fair traders, being empathetic to people and to our employees, paying fair wages, making progress in our ingredients, and by being innovative with our ice cream flavors.”

The company’s profit for a purpose business model allows it to generate high revenues while paying its employees and its suppliers fairly. They have fostered a company atmosphere that enables them to charge a premium price for their ice cream. This results in the company being able to pay their employees fair wages and allowing them to purchase the highest quality ingredients from their suppliers. The company is also conscious of how much it charges for its ice cream to ensure that the community will continue to visit their ice cream shops. What sets Mitchell’s Homemade apart from other ice cream shops is the sense of community that they have created. Their success derives from their reputation of treating both people and their environment with care.

Inspiration

The Mitchell brothers were inspired to open Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream because they wanted to create a positive experience for people. As Pete Mitchell said, “We wanted to create a unique experience for families and people of all ages to enjoy. Everyone has happy memories that revolve around ice cream!” Mitchell’s Homemade was founded in 1999 by two brothers, Pete and Mike Mitchell. The idea of opening an ice cream shop arose when Pete and Mike went searching for ice cream while in Seattle. They were unable to find a local ice cream shop and that is when the idea of opening a sustainable ice cream shop dawned on them. At first they merely thought of it as a dream but then decided to act on their intuition. Cleveland, being their hometown, was the obvious choice for them to open their shop. The first Mitchell’s Homemade Ice Cream location opened in the Westlake neighborhood of Cleveland. Since 1999, they have opened eight locations and currently have three locations opening in the near future.

Overall impact

Mitchell’s Homemade has created an everlasting impression on Cleveland and Northern Ohio. They achieved UN Global Goal #11 Sustainable Cities and Communities. They achieved this goal by purchasing ingredients from local farmers. Mitchell’s Homemade prioritizes purchasing ingredients that are grown from local farms in the Northern Ohio region. Pete Mitchell stated, “when choosing our ingredients, we ensure that they are both fair trade products and organic.”

In their store, they have pictures hanging of their farmers and the produce that they grow. This gesture reassures customers that they are eating fresh ingredients and it ultimately increases customer satisfaction to know that they are benefiting their local community. By doing this, Mitchell’s Homemade solidified its positive reputation in the Cleveland area.

Business benefit

In 2014, Mitchell’s Homemade purchased an old silent movie theater in Cleveland’s Ohio City neighborhood and transformed it into their Production Kitchen as well as their eighth storefront. Throughout the renovation process of the building, every aspect was meticulously planned in order to uphold their sustainable practices. Notably, they wanted to ensure that the building was as eco-friendly as possible to reduce their carbon footprint. On the exterior of the building there are both solar panels and a Rainwater Harvesting System. The solar panels line the entire rooftop and generate roughly 18,000 Watts on a sunny day, which is enough power to keep all of the freezers inside of the kitchen and shop operating. The Rainwater Harvesting System is located on the back side of the building and redirects the flow of rainwater from the rooftop to a 10,000-gallon underground cistern. This system repurposes the rainwater, rather than sending it to the storm sewer. Gray water, the rain water reserve, is collected from the cistern and first filtered then sterilized with ultraviolet light. The conservation water is then used in the restrooms, used for landscape irrigation, and is used to temper the 180-degrees water from the dishwasher. Roughly 630 gallons of gray water are used at their Ohio City kitchen & shop every day. This system decreases the amount of water supply they need to run their business.

The interior of the building also incorporates sustainable aspects that help reduce costs and minimize the need for energy resources. Mitchell’s Homemade installed large windows and skylights that increase the amount of natural light shining throughout the shop and kitchen. This allows the company to significantly reduce their electricity consumption. They have installed sensors on the ceiling that detect the amount of natural light coming into their store, which automatically adjust the brightness of the LED lights. Each LED light bulb reduces the amount of energy used and generates savings of approximately $60 per year. Additionally, the shop used reclaimed wood from local carpenters for its furniture and tables. They also used recycled steel for the tables and for the hand railings and used plastic bottles for the chairs inside of their shop. Ultimately, Mitchell’s Homemade heavily emphasized repurposing materials that otherwise would have gone to waste.

Social and environmental benefit

The business model of Mitchell’s Homemade benefits their employees, their community, and the environment. Their greatest contribution is the value they bestow on their employees. As Pete Mitchell explained, “We always want to be empathetic to people and to our employees. We are able to do that with our employees by paying fair wages.” They are also able support their local communities by donating ice cream to local events. Mitchell’s Homemade is always consciously aware of the health of all the people who enjoy their ice cream. They are able to contribute to the environment by avoiding practices that harm human health, plants, and animals.

Interview

Pete Mitchell, Co-Founder/Co-Owner