He doesn”™t wear a black top hat nor purple velvet waistcoat, but Ben Katzenstein, a third-generation ice cream flavor creator, might well be considered the Hudson Valley”™s version of Willy Wonka.
In fact, the fictitious candy maker would be no match for the energetic Katzenstein, who doesn”™t sit still even when he”™s sitting still. The family”™s ice cream flavor manufacturing facility in Congers is gearing up for another summer, meaning Ben, his brother, Jim, father, Walter, and two of his six grandchildren will once again be working at Star Kay White six days a week, churning out enough flavoring for millions of gallons of ice cream, shakes and sundaes around the world.
Ben Katzenstein went right into the family business after graduating the Culinary Institute of America in 1979, joining his father and brother in the business.
The company”™s three manufacturing plants produce about 100,000 pounds of product each day, neatly stacked in 275 gallon containers waiting to be shipped across North America and Europe. Not just interested in giving ice cream that special zing, the company also produces some of the candy ingredients added to today”™s most popular brands, as well as drink flavors that might get mixed in with that exotic pina colada or standby chocolate shake.
Customers range from multinational corporations to mom-and-pop operations. Suffice to say, the next brand of ice cream you eat, no matter how pricey, most likely contains flavors or candy chips mixed and created by Star Kay White.
The company employs more than 70 people in its 90,000-square-foot facility, spread out over three separate buildings, where the Katzensteins are constantly upgrading and refining not just their manufacturing techniques but developing new flavors its researchers hope no one else has thought of ”” yet.
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Most of the employees have been with the family-owned business several years and the camaraderie is apparent, as is their loyalty. When their 10-year customer service manager Jeannine Wall was killed by an adopted pit bull last October, the candy concoction she and Ben Katzenstein were getting ready to roll out sat on the shelves nameless. The company”™s dedicating the coffee-flavored treats to Wall and plan to roll out “J-9 Chocolate Expresso” later this year. “There isn”™t a day that doesn”™t go by that we don”™t think of her or miss her,” said Katzenstein, and the sentiment isn”™t superficial: there”™s a picture of their former co-worker hanging on every wall in every office. “J-9” will be the company”™s way of remembering Wall and her dedication to Star Kay White. Walter Katzenstein is at the office every day, working alongside his two sons and waiting for grandsons to come home from college and spend their summer in the family business. He shares his large office with decades of memorabilia and pictures of his wife and family surrounding him. His office includes the original desk at which his grandfather once sat. There”™s no computer in the senior Katzenstein”™s office; he manages his accounting with pen, paper and calculator. And the cell phone his family insisted he have sits nearby on its charger, “and it can stay there,” smiled the 78-year-old businessman.
“Yes, the business world has changed, but not necessarily for the better,” Katzenstein said.
He recalled trying to call in an order that was refused because he couldn”™t fax the request to the company in writing. By the way, he eventually got his order approved and permission granted to take his orders by phone. Sadly, says the elder Katzenstein, the business world has “lost its trust ”¦ and trust is a key to building a relationship with your customers. There are some human elements in business you can”™t replace with technology. We”™re losing our human touch.”
The family”™s returning to its original roots by re-introducing its line of classic extracts, including chocolate, almond, anise, ginger, orange blossom and rose, and a new flavor bourbon vanilla extra, currently sold at Sur La Table and Balducci”™s.
“Extracts are more popular in Europe, but Americans are discovering these ingredients that can give their favorite dish a dash of panache.”
And the final question you must ask a person who”™s spent his life creating ice cream flavors — what”™s the overall favorite?
“Vanilla, followed by chocolate and strawberry,” affirms Ben Katzenstein. “When it comes to ice cream, it”™s definitely a ”˜comfort”™ food and when people want comfort, they will inevitably return to the old standards.”
Notwithstanding comfort zones, the Katzensteins will continue to dazzle and delight the ice-cream eating public with new flavors and ingredients designed to make the chilly treat unique.
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