Utah’s business of shaving and flavoring ice
Emily Ericson, front, Allison Fetters, left, and Bailey Raban, right, make shaved ice cups at Snoasis in Alpine on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Jay Daniel eats spoonfuls of shaved ice at Snoasis in Alpine on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
People wait in line for shaved ice at Snoasis in Alpine on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Benson Butler, 2, looks up at his mother while eating a cup of shaved ice at Snoasis in Alpine in this file photo from 2015.
Emily Ericson sets a shaved ice on the counter at Snoasis in Alpine on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Tara Butler, hands her son Benson, 2, a cup of shaved ice at Snoasis in Alpine on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Crew Butler, 5, takes a look into his green shaved ice at Snoasis in Alpine on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
People wait in line for shaved ice at Snoasis in Alpine on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
Brock Whitworth, 10, eats a colorful cup of shaved ice at Snoasis in Alpine on Tuesday, July 28, 2015. GRANT HINDSLEY, Daily Herald
If it’s Utah, one can find kids eating snow in the winter, and in the summer.
For many Utah Valley residents, summer means regular trips to one of the numerous shaved ice stands that dot the corner of parking lots, sometimes only spaced a few blocks from each other. Residents driving down State Street or any of the main streets of every town in the valley can count several shacks, and scores of people, young and old, lined up by them.
Getting into the business of selling shaved ice takes less initial investment than other turnkey types of businesses – sometimes costing as low as $5,000 to purchase a used shack and its machinery. The rest of the setup involves finding a location, obtaining the necessary business and food permits, sourcing the ice and syrups, and hiring employees.
“It’s fairly inexpensive to get into it, and Utah is a state of entrepreneurs who like to try their hand at ventures,” said Clint Severson, owner of Hokulia Shave Ice based in Provo. “But the low entry point means there has been a saturation of the market in the last few years because of that.”
Severson started Hokulia Shave Ice with his wife, Stefani, and his brother-in-law, Jeff Sadler, with one location in the Riverwoods in Provo in 2009. He and his wife have ties to Hawaii, and loved the shaved ice they enjoyed there. Being entrepreneurial in spirit, when they didn’t find a stand they really loved they decided to open one. Severson will tell you that authentic Hawaiian shave ice stands do not use the “d” at the end of the word, on purpose.
“In the south, they’re called ‘Snowballs,’ and in other areas around the country, they are called ‘Snow Cones’ or ‘Shaved Ice.’ But in Hawaii, they are all called ‘Shave Ice.’ I know it’s grammatically incorrect, but when people ask, we just tell them it’s a Hawaiian thing,” Clint Severson said.
Regardless of semantics, Hokulia is one of the few stands around that is a full-time gig for its owners. When they first started it, Clint Severson was still working full-time at his “day job,” and it took a few years of slow going for their shack to catch on. But after working out the kinks and perfecting their product, their business took off, and the Seversons started franchising Hokulia stands. They now boast more than 60 locations from Atlanta to Alaska, and for the Seversons and Sadler, Hokulia has moved from supplemental income to their primary income source.
“We pride ourselves on being the better can opener,” Clint chuckled. “There are a lot of places that do shave ice out there, but not all shave ice is equal. We focus on the small steps in the process that makes our product different than those that pop up on the corners each year.”
Hokulia is still the exception, though. For most stand owners, whether just opened this summer, or many summers ago, their snow shacks are supplemental income, bringing in a little extra during the months of May to September.
Cedar Hills resident Nina Brown owns the Snoasis Shaved Ice stand in Alpine that has been a local favorite since she opened the shack in 2007. She didn’t open it with plans for it to ever be anything more than supplemental income.
“It was a business to give our kids a great place for summer jobs,” Brown said. She and her husband, who works full-time to support the family, have seven kids. Most of their kids are now grown, but she does have two 12-year-old twins still at home. So right now, she sees the shack as a fun place for local kids to get a summer job – the twins still have a few years to go before they can work in the shack.
The shack has staying power because it’s in a great location at the roundabout just at the entrance of Alpine, Brown said. Also, to keep in business, they incorporate a fun atmosphere around the stand itself, with bouncy music, and a quick-out-the-window philosophy.
“Though it is supplemental income, I never wanted to do it haphazard,” Brown said. “We have quality ingredients, and our syrups are known for their flavor. We also focus on the texture. We want it to be soft snow, not chunky ice. We also don’t want people to have to wait in line – we get it out to them quickly.”
When Brown first started eight summers ago, they were very successful, and had very little competition. As the industry has ramped up, she’s seen a drop in her business.
“But we are still making a profit, and I’m still happy doing it,” Brown said.
In Pleasant Grove, Greg Hmura is the owner of State Street Grill on 2000 West in Pleasant Grove. He and his partner also own the Sno Café Shaved Ice stand at the edge of his parking lot. They bought it three summers ago to run it as supplemental income to his Grill. He’s seen some success with it, using the highest quality syrups and ice, but he’s not so sure it’s worth it.
“Initially earlier this summer, we were doing very well. But the last few weeks, maybe because of the cooler weather, business really trailed off, and we were breaking even,” Hmura said. “If it doesn’t pick up by the end of the summer, we probably won’t do it next year. I’m not sure it’s worth the aggravation.”
While the shaved ice industry may have lower entry point than others, in Utah Valley it’s currently a tough market to enter, as the many online classified ads selling used stands will attest. To shave out profits, many stands are trying new flavors and new textures, trying to differentiate themselves from the regular stands. Two newer entries into the industry, Yuki Shaved Ice and Baobing Taiwanese Shaved Ice, both in Provo, came into the industry recently. Yuki is setting itself apart by using pure fruit and vegetable purees to flavor their ice. Baobing is making a name for itself by mixing their flavors into the ice before freezing it.
Over at Hokulia, Severson said that they feel they’ve already differentiated their product, and feel pretty confident.
“In the beginning, we felt the competition was tough, but we focused on our product and our experience,” Clint Severson said. “We feel like now people are shooting to be us, not vice versa.”
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