Founder
Scratch Ice Cream
1818B N. Farewell Ave., Milwaukee (production facility)
scratchicecream.com
When Milwaukee-based Scratch Ice Cream launched in 2016, its hand-packed pints of small-batch ice cream were sold out of display freezers at a few frozen yogurt shops in the area.
Today, the company’s retail footprint spans 50 locations across southeastern Wisconsin, including restaurants, grocery stores and storefronts at Zócalo food truck park and Crossroads Collective food hall.
Founder Ryan Povlick took interest in ice cream production early in his recovery from a heroin addiction. Working for his aunt and uncle’s frozen yogurt business, Yo Mama!, he spent off time learning and developing recipes from scratch. Povlick owns the business with his brother Justin Povlick.
Earlier this year, Scratch landed a contract to sell its products across Sendik’s Food Market’s 16-store footprint. The deal was a major milestone, especially as business recovered from the COVID-19 pandemic.
But as challenging as it was for Scratch and other local businesses, Povlick believes the pandemic spurred the startup’s breakthrough.
“The day after we were forced to shut down our dine-in at our shop, we launched a door delivery service, called Care Packs,” he said. “It took off on social media, and we got a lot of exposure to people that never heard of our brand.”
While delivery sales carried the business through those early months, it was the newfound brand awareness that has fueled Scratch’s growth.
