Tops Touts Revamped Ice Cream Line for Holidays

Tops Markets LLC is touting its revamped store brand ice cream line as a consumer selection for the holidays.

The Williamsville, N.Y.-based retailer is returning two limited-edition offerings for the holidays under its Tops private brand — Peppermint Sleigh Ride and Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Swirl. Tops also added a new flavor, Apple Crisp, to the line.

Tops recently introduced a premium ice cream line that has become its best-selling line. The all-natural ice cream is made by a local company and features several distinct flavors, including Dirt Pile (chocolate ice cream with chocolate chunks and swirls of chocolate cookie crumbs), Rainbow Unicorn (bubblegum ice cream in fun colors) and Coconut Dream (sweet coconut ice cream with fudge flakes and fudge-coated almonds).

“Our ice cream was kind of run-of-the-mill before,” Frank Curci, CEO of Tops, recently told Progressive Grocer sister publication Store Brands. “The new line is much more innovative.”

Tops is promoting the free-from benefits of the line; for instance, Peppermint Sleigh Ride and Snickerdoodle Cheesecake Swirl contain no artificial colors, no artificial flavors, no high-fructose corn syrup and no partially hydrogenated oils.

“Crafted right here in western New York, we’re proud to be able to offer our valued customers a quality product that that they can feel great about serving their families not only during the holiday season, but all year long,” said Susan Durfee, director of dairy/frozen for Tops.

Over the past few years, Tops has introduced or reformulated thousands of its Tops store brand items in an effort to provide more high-quality foods at affordable prices.

Tops operates 159 full-service supermarkets with five additional franchise stores in New York, northern Pennsylvania, and western Vermont. The company is No. 28 on Progressive Grocer’s 2019 Super 50 list of the top grocers in the United States.