Virginia's First Green Ice Cream

Perfect Flavor opens online at www.perfectflavor.com and in Waynesboro, Virginia. Perfect Flavor delivers gourmet ice cream, made to order in single batches, using seasonal local and organic ingredients to ice cream lovers across the America.

"Perfect Flavor ice cream is different," says Ms. Watkins, founder and President.  "I make our ice cream by hand, in single batches.  Next time you get some ice cream, ask them if they make it from scratch. Most places use mixes and pre-made flavorings.  I make our ice cream from scratch - no mixes - from local, seasonal, and organic ingredients we get from family farms in the Shenandoah Valley."

Farms across the Shenandoah Valley, including Polyface farm in Swoope, Holsinger Dairy Farm in Waynesboro, Harvest Thyme Herb Farm in Mint Spring, Bonny Venture farm in Mount Sidney and others have partnered with Perfect Flavor to make their unique local ingredients part of the first sustainable, environmentally responsible ice cream producer in Virginia.

According to Ms. Watkins, "Gourmet ice cream is all about the ingredients.  We give priority to local family-owned producers.  We get every ingredient possible locally, including the foundation ingredients of dairy, eggs, and grains.  But, some things we have to look for outside of the local region - like cocoa from Ghana, and vanilla beans from Madagascar - and for those, we insist on using only organic and small family farms."

Ms. Watkins explains, "We're also different because we put our customers in charge of their own flavors.  I know 'Perfect Flavor' makes it sound like we have some super-secret recipe or flavor combination cooked up, but what it really means is that you get to create your own ice cream flavor.  You can come by the store to order, or use our website, www.perfectflavor.com.  You choose a base, like gelato or sorbet, a base flavor, and then add in your seasonal local ingredients and organic mixins."

"When an order comes in, I make it from scratch.  That means if one of our mixins happens to be something like apple pie, I bake an apple pie, and then mix it right into your order.  After I finish your order, it's chilled overnight, and then we express ship it to you or your loved ones, any where in the continental United States.  Or you can save the shipping costs by coming to our retail space in Waynesboro to pick it up yourself."

"Not only is our ice cream good tasting, but it's good for the local foodshed, and for the planet, too.  We don't use any plastic packaging whatsoever; all of our packaging is either compostable, recyclable, or recycled,"  adds Ms. Watkins.

For additional information, interviews, or to arrange for an ice cream tasting, visit www.perfectflavor.com.