The Fourth of July will mark the 100-year anniversary of Casper Merrill’s first rendition of the Casco Nut Sundae, a portable ice cream bar on a stick which spawned Casper’s Ice Cream.
Throughout the last century, Casper’s Ice Cream has become a frozen-treat giant, a hot summer day’s tasty relief and a workplace with a specific set of values, all resulting in a proud group of employees who are glad to call it home.
CEO Russel Stokes, who joined the company in August and has years of experience in the food industry, pointed to Casper’s strong values as the primary reason for the company’s success.
“If I dive into where we’re at, 100 years is — I think it’s a really big deal,” Stokes said. “There’s not a lot of food companies that have 100-year histories. We’re in rarified company with some of the other really great brands across this country.
“To be successful for 100 years, there has to be something at the core of a company that’s durable, and that has to come down to values.”
Values established by the company’s father, Casper Merrill, his brother and his sons, who worked together to create nearly every aspect of the company by hand, have been perpetuated by his grandsons and those who followed.
While world events, market trends, new product ideas and increases in volume have all affected Casper’s, its foundation of Casco Nut Bars, FatBoys and a passionate workforce has been constant.
Vice President of Operations Ezra Farmer, who has been with the company for 25 years, said his love of the team and the accomplishments they have made are what keep him around.
“I would say what has kept me here for all these years is the love of the team,” Farmer said. “We do have a great team out here and because of that cohesion and team effort, we’re able to accomplish a lot of great things, which is needed in manufacturing.”
Part of that team is a man Stokes refers to as Willy Wonka — the protagonist in “Charlie and the Chocolate Factory” — better known as Shane Petersen, the company’s operations officer.
Referencing the Wonka comparison, Petersen laughed, “I’ll take that, I’ll take that. A crazy dude who’s a bad dresser.”
An employee of 30-plus years, Petersen doesn’t dismiss the value of innovation that comes with his job, but credits the possibility of innovation to the already well-established heavy-hitters the company produces.
“Innovation is important; however, I do want to point out — in order to see growth, you need to have a couple of good items and you need to get it in everybody’s hands,” Petersen said. “That’s kind of been our big key to success ... the vanilla FatBoy ice cream sandwich is the number-one selling ice cream sandwich across America.”
John Apedaile, an employee since the 1980s and current maintenance department head, strongly believes in the company’s products, thanks to firsthand experience.
“I love ice cream; I’ve probably eaten it every single day of my life,” Apedaile said with a smile. “I do love ice cream, and I have ice cream every day, even at home on the weekends I eat ice cream.”
Clearly, others share the same love Apedaile does, as the company has grown to the point where it produces what used to be a year’s worth of product in just one week. Apedaile remembers production numbers hovering around 450 ice cream bars a day, a number which now surpasses as many as 1.3 million.
All of the men also acknowledged the importance of the community they are located in.
“For the 100 years, we recognize and we want to thank the community for the support,” Petersen said. “We always feel like we’ve done our best to be a part of that. We donate ice cream to everybody and about anybody that needs it and we feel like that’s a very vital part of our business.
“With that, being 100 years old and to thank everybody for the support, we’re doing different deals with our Malt Shoppe,” Petersen said. “Each month we’re doing giveaways, we’re doing two-for-ones ... all sorts of stuff to try and just say thank you back to the community.”
What began as a one-man show aiming to supply a Fourth of July celebration with a cold consolation has now grown into a company whose products are widely available in frozen sections across America.
Employees such as Apedaile, who helped the company transition to a much more efficient and automated process; Petersen, who has worked with his team to come up with new ideas to keep things fresh, while focusing on what got them there; Farmer, who came to the company shortly before it delved into the dairy-free treat industry; and Stokes, who is a newcomer, but eager to take the company to new heights, have all played a role in continuing the success of those who came before them.
“(Casper) was very much wanting to spread happiness to people and the thing he truly loved was making people happy and I think that’s what drives us today,” Farmer said, later adding, “It’s so rewarding when you give somebody some ice cream and just see a young child get so excited or even a parent ... it never fails.”
Petersen recalled what Merill’s son, Richard, used to call the “ice cream treatment.”
“Casper’s son, Richard, used to always say, ‘We’ll give them the ice cream treatment,’” Petersen said. “If anyone is sick or not feeling good about something, just give them the ice cream treatment.”
For more information on treatment flavors or Casper’s Ice Cream, visit caspersicecream.com or go to the nearest grocery store.
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