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4 Hartford Business Journal • May 9, 2016 www.HartfordBusiness.com w w w. H a r t f o r d B u s i n e s s . c o m (860) 236-9998 E D I T O R I A L Greg Bordonaro Editor, ext. 139 gbordonaro@HartfordBusiness.com Gregory Seay News Editor, ext. 144 gseay@HartfordBusiness.com Matt Pilon News Editor, ext. 143 mpilon@HartfordBusiness.com John Stearns Staff Writer, ext. 145 jstearns@HartfordBusiness.com Keith Griffin Digital Producer/Reporter, ext. 127 kgriffin@HartfordBusiness.com Stephanie Meagher Research Director Heide Martin Research Assistant B U S I N E S S Joe Zwiebel President and Publisher, ext. 132 jzwiebel@HartfordBusiness.com Donna Collins Associate Publisher, ext. 121 dcollins@HartfordBusiness.com Jessica Baker Office Manager, ext. 122 jbaker@HartfordBusiness.com Amy Orsini Events Manager, ext. 134 aorsini@HartfordBusiness.com Christian J. 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Box 330, Congers, NY 10920-9894 www.copyright.com Royal Ice Cream LET'S TALK ABOUT HOW WE CAN HELP YOUR BUSINESS MAKE IT BUILD IT BUY IT LEASE IT MOVE IT GROW IT EDUCATIONAL PLAYCARE Financed the expansion of day care centers across the state CADCO, LTD Financed acquisition of major equipment DOYLE'S MEDICAL SUPPLY Maintaining a long-standing business relationship www.nwcommunitybank.com Member FDIC Equal Housing Lender Contact Steve Zarrella Senior Vice President & Chief Lending Officer 860-379-7561 zarrella@nwcommunitybank.com YOUR COMMUNITY – YOUR COMMUNITY BANK FOR OVER 150 YEARS Move your plans from the drawing board into action. You know your business— and we know ours. Together we can make things happen. NCB COMMERCIAL HBJ 1-4pV_Layout 1 3/2/16 1:23 recalling what one of his grandfather's associates once told him. "He was a hard- working guy." Wearing a hair net and a white smock jacket, James Orfitelli said a strong work ethic from his 12 fulltime and four part-time employees is what keeps the operation thriving — and it's something he too tries to model. "I'm not just here in the office, putting orders on paper and barking them out through a window," Orfitelli said. "I work with them shoulder-to-shoulder every day. I bend down to pick up the trash out of the drain. I take the garbage out to the dumpster. They don't do anything that I wouldn't do, or haven't done already. I expect them to give me a good day's work and respect the fact that I'm working with them too.'' A stint in refrigeration school as a young man was beneficial. When a freezer acts up or another piece of machinery is on the fritz, Orfitelli can fix it. Back in the day, Royal focused on person- al deliveries. As a teenager, James Orfitelli started in the business on the road. Today, Royal is all about manufacturing specialty products and dealing with distributors and food operations, such as Sysco, New England Ice Cream and Shamrock Foods. Trucks now come to the 20,000-square-foot plant to pick up pallets of ice cream for deliv- ery to such places as New Orleans, Colora- do, Arizona, New York and China. Special ice cream sandwiches — 46,000 of them — were made for this year's Mas- ters professional golf tournament in Augus- ta, Ga. Picture two sugar cookies sandwich- ing peach ice cream, with peaches in them. Royal produces about 500,000 gallons of ice cream a year. It has two signature Italian-style delicacies: • Tortoni — Rum-flavored ice cream, topped with toasted macaroon crunch and a red cherry, in a five-ounce cup. • Spumoni — A four-ounce rum-flavored wedge of vanilla and chocolate ice cream with whip cream, pistachio ice cream, black and red cherries, raisins, roasted almonds. Ice cream is one of those products in which there is almost universal appeal. Few, though, realize the elaborate process involved — gallons of 14 percent butter fat mix pumped into flavor tanks and then sent to a whipping machine, before it is infused with just the right amount of air for taste quality. "Everyone loves ice cream. I just love the business," Orfitelli said. "There's no greater feeling than when a production day starts and runs smoothly; the product is being packaged and everything is running well.'' The company recently completed a deal with a New Orleans company to manufacture $200,000 worth of ice cream chocolate cook- ie sandwiches — one with vanilla bean ice cream, the other with creole cream cheese. Though he enjoys the business, Orfitelli concedes retirement is on the horizon — and no other family members are interest- ed in taking over. Royal can be consuming. Orfitelli and his wife Cynthia raised their four children in a three-bedroom Cape on the same 3-acre parcel that is home to the business. For 38 years, Orfitelli has walked from home to work. About $500,000 of remodeling upgrades were completed eight years ago, including computer-driven compressors. For some- one interested in owning an ice cream busi- ness, Orfitelli said, Royal provides a great opportunity. "The potential for this business is off the charts because there aren't a whole lot of people doing this,'' he said. "And we have a good name in the industry.'' n Stan Simpson is the principal of Stan Simpson Enterprises LLC, a strategic com- munications consulting firm. He is also host of "The Stan Simpson Show" which airs Saturday, 5:30 a.m., on Fox CT — and online at www.fox61.com/stan. A Royal Ice Cream employee places cookies on a large baking pan. Benny Castillo and Cherish Laureno dip dessert treats in chocolate. P H O T O S | S T E V E L A S C H E V E R