Van Leeuwen Ice Cream
American ice cream parlor chain
From Wikipedia, the free encyclopedia
Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is an American ice cream parlor chain.
- Pete Van Leeuwen
- Ben Van Leeuwen
- Laura O'Neill
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 Van Leeuwen branch in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C. | |
| Founded | 2008 in New York City |
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| Founders |
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| Website | vanleeuwenicecream |
History
Van Leeuwen began with a yellow food truck in New York City in 2008 operated by Pete Van Leeuwen, his brother Ben, and their Australian partner Laura O'Neill. The trio were seeking to make a “purer ice cream”. [1] Their yellow trucks sold flavors based on imported ingredients like Ceylon cinnamon, Sicilian pistachios, and vanilla from Papua New Guinea.[2] The American private equity firm Nextworld invested $18.7 million in the company in 2020. Van Leeuwen opened their 30th store in 2022 and has over 70 stores as of December 2024[update].[3][4]
In November 2022, Van Leeuwen entered a settlement agreement with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. The chain agreed to comply with a New York City law that banned retail stores from refusing to accept cash as payment and to pay $33,000 in outstanding civil penalties. Van Leeuwen had been violating the law since it went into effect in November 2020 and did not appear for any administrative hearings.[5]
