New Englanders scream for it. Celebrities, including Bob Hope, crave it when they are in Boston. And marketers from competing national brands are left scratching their heads wondering how they could be "scooped" by it year after year. For almost nine decades, the Brigham's name has been synonymous with incredibly rich, creamy ice cream. Made with only the finest Vermont cream and milk, and all natural flavorings, including Pacific Northwest strawberries, and top-quality whole nuts and mix-ins, it's easy to see why Brigham's is Boston's #1 selling ice cream with an extremely loyal following.

In 2004, Brigham's celebrates its 90th birthday and a rich, flavorful legacy of producing and marketing high quality dessert products to loyal New England consumers. Through these eighty-nine years, including the Depression, World Wars, recessions and the product-marketing bonanza of the last few decades, Brigham's has earned a place in the lives and traditions of New Englanders - the country's leading consumers of ice cream.

A Family Tradition is Born

The tradition of Brigham's began in 1914 - the last age of innocence prior to WW1 - in the brothers Symmes' Post Office Square basement facility where the city's finest candy and ice cream was produced under the Durand Company name. Ten years later across town in Newton Highlands, Massachusetts, Edward L. Brigham began a successful ice cream business. Brigham became a neighborhood hero, making ice cream and candies from closely-guarded recipes in the back room of his stores. He served his five-and-ten cent cones and twenty-cent sundaes in such generous portions that people flocked to the store from miles around, requiring extra Newton police officers to handle weekend crowds. After the store closed and the folks had gone home, Brigham routinely treated the police officers to their favorite flavors.

During the late 1920s candy consumption declined due to the increased popularity of cigarettes and alcohol, yet ice cream continued to be strong in the summer months. Prompted by the strong demand for ice cream, the Symmes' Durand Company merged with Brigham's in 1929, establishing the basis of today's Brigham's with the opening of three additional stores and an ice cream manufacturing plant.

During the Depression, Brigham's kept its commitment to the people of Boston, keeping on all employees and even accepting IOUs from loyal customers. Brigham's survived this era due to its extended family business stance. Business flourished and 20 new stores were opened. In 1940, Brigham's purchased family-owned Dorothy Muriel's bakery to complement the existing product line with baked goods and to supplement business during winter months. During WWII Brigham's was able to remain profitable due to careful management planning and a basic philosophy of serving customers and employees.

Rising Star Hits Grocery Store Shelves; Becomes Household Name

In the early 1960s, the Brigham's organization merged with Star Markets. Forty new stores ensued offering sandwiches and ice cream in a new colonial-style setting. Later, in 1968, Brigham's merged with the Jewel Companies and then purchased Buttrick's, a small chain of colonial-style restaurants in Arlington, Massachusetts, the present site of Brigham's corporate headquarters. Early in the 1970s, manufacturing facilities were expanded to improve production. In 1977, Brigham's began to franchise stores and create an identifiable image for both the retail locations and Brigham's frozen product offerings.

In 1982, Jewel Companies sold Brigham's to privately-held owners. Although ownership has changed from time to time, one aspect has remained consistent with the Brigham's brand - consumers' desire for Brigham's ice cream products and the convenience of having the "home spun" product in the home. Responding to consumer demands, Brigham's debuted quarts of its preferred premium ice cream in supermarkets in the early 1980s and today enjoys distribution in every major supermarket in New England.

Becoming the (Ice) Cream of the Crop

With fierce competition from national ice cream brands making inroads into the Boston market, Brigham's has not only been able to maintain popularity, but also to expand and improve overall presence in the frozen dessert industry. The company's vanilla ice cream maintains the prize position as the #1 selling ice cream in the Boston market for several years straight. Brigham's attributes this phenomenon to the longevity of the Brigham's name and products in addition to offering the best tasting ice cream available. Loyal customers have been passing the "Brigham's experience" along to subsequent family members for generations.

In today's competitive frozen-dessert industry, with yogurt products, non-fat ice creams, new sorbet lines, flavor variations, an assortment of mix-ins and ever-developing ice cream and yogurt combinations, manufacturers must stay on the cutting edge. This has resulted in an abundance of new products in this category.

Successful Marriage to Élan

Anticipating the changing times and taste buds, Brigham's purchased Élan Frozen Yogurt in 1993. Brigham's recognized Élan as an established brand with a sophisticated image and quality product which already enjoyed a loyal metro New York following. Élan simply needed a more concentrated marketing effort to combat a recent loss in market share and a continual drop in sales since 1992. Also, considering the substantial growth in the yogurt category at that time, which went from 2 percent to 18 percent of the frozen dessert market in seven years, and the trend toward low-fat and non-fat foods, the purchase of Élan offered an excellent opportunity for Brigham's to branch out in the frozen yogurt category.

The purchase of Élan, a family-owned company committed to offering quality products, enabled Brigham's to enter the New York region as well as additional demographic markets -- such as health-conscious, 25 to 50-year-old women -- without jeopardizing their existing business. Since Brigham's purchased Élan, the low-fat trend has slowly shifted to consumers favoring full-fat ice creams, which is good news for Brigham's and ironically great news for Élan Frozen Yogurt. As yogurt competitors disappear from the supermarket shelves, Élan continually gains additional customers and with that, recognition for a great-tasting, low-fat treat.

Now celebrating its 19th birthday, Élan Frozen Yogurt is currently available in eight premium flavors: Vanilla, Chocolate, Black Raspberry, Coffee, Decaffeinated Coffee, Strawberry, Andes Mint Drift and Chocolate Fudge Brownie. Élan continues to experience significant growth, with a combined sales increase of 46 percent from 1998 through 2001. In one year alone, 2000-2001, production of Élan gallons increased more than 26 percent, while the frozen yogurt industry experienced a decline of 3.96 percent during the same time period, according to the International Dairy Foundation.

In 2005 Élan celebrates its 20th birthday with a new package design, new size and new flavors! Élan Frozen Yogurt's six all natural flavors will be on supermarket shelves and non-mall Brigham's locations in Spring 2005 and include: low fat VANILLA, low fat COFFEE, low fat DECAFFEINATED CAPPUCCINO, low fat BLACK RASPBERRY, low fat BORDEAUX CHERRY CHIP and a special limited edition flavor, low fat STRAWBERRY KISS. Visit www.elanfrozenyogurt.com for more information.

Expanding the Family: New Englanders Dig "Big Dig" and Other New Products

Brigham's is constantly pursuing growth opportunities with exciting new product launches such as the ever popular The Big Dig® Ice Cream flavor, Raspberry Lime Rickey Sherbet and Irish Coffee special flavors, and geographic growth through the Élan brand into all areas of New England and metro New York.

Brigham's Restaurants continue to serve hearty meals to the downtown Boston workforce or to weary shoppers in the regional malls. Soon shoppers in additional malls will be able to take a break from the hustle and enjoy a Brigham's Ice Cream treat at one of the brightly colored ice cream parlors. Meantime, businesses have come to enjoy Brigham's treats brought right into the office through the Brigham's Big Dig Sundae Party Program. Now in its sixth year, more than 2,500 businesses treated well over 150,000 employees to a sundae party from Brigham's this past summer. In fact, the Sundae Party Program is beginning to evolve into a year-long program and not just a summer office break, with businesses treating employees to a different kind of "cold one" after achieving a goal, celebrating birthdays or just saying, 'thanks for the hard work.'

Forever a Community Partner

Brigham's has offered Boston and New England consumers a tradition of quality dessert products and a legacy of corporate responsibility. In the vein of good corporate citizenship, Brigham's has and continues to sponsor a variety of charitable events and views its responsibility to the consumer as product driven as well as community driven - a dual strategy that translates into unwavering consumer loyalty.