Today we’d like to introduce you to David Boyer.
Hi David, thanks for sharing your story with us. To start, maybe you can tell our readers some of your backstory.
Jupiter Moon Ice Cream started with childhood joy, of course. I grew up in Helena, Montana, a small city at the foothills of the Rockies in the west-central part of the state. My childhood was spent under the big blue skies that seemed endless. My. father was a ceramics artist and art teacher, my mother worked as a florist, and I spent a lot of time with my grandparents, who lived nearby. My grandfather was an amazing baker and a person who made people feel welcome and cared for. My youthful years were spent learning to fish, boat, and how to enjoy a slower lifestyle surrounded by the magnificence of nature. Ice cream was a required part of every summer, as well as a year-round celebratory treat.
Between the end of high school and the beginning of college in Minnesota, I worked at a traveling carnival, during which I learned the power of hospitality and being open-minded to people from all walks of life. My most important value is kindness, and everything in my life so far has affirmed how important kindness, acceptance, humor, and joy are across all cultures. At Jupiter Moon Ice Cream, we lead with these of kindness and choosing joy.
My two college degrees are in aviation and meteorology, and I have always loved space exploration and how it inspires the human imagination for exploration, discovery, and wonder of the unknown. I love that ice cream is a fun combination of art and science, and that there are near-limitless flavors to be developed and explored. The natural world offers us so many flavors and Jupiter Moon is just getting started, having offered ____ flavors so far in our 3 years of business.
As an entrepreneur, I started Jupiter Moon Ice Cream with a bicycle cart and a dream. It’s a labor of love for me after spending the first half of my career in systems design, whether in meteorology or UX (user experience) design and leadership. I choose St. Joseph, Minnesota as my home base because of its welcoming, small-town vibe and its supportive community.
Jupiter Moon Ice Cream is a place for everybody, as we offer something for every palate, including traditional dairy ice cream, delicious vegan “ice cream,” and cooling, fruity sorbets. We use local and natural ingredients and flavors as much as possible, and on any given day. you can find us brewing fresh, hot coffee from beans roasted by the local company Kinder Coffee, puréeing locally-picked fruit in the kitchen to create one of our unique flavors, as well as incorporating global ingredients such as cinnamon from Vietnam, matcha tea from Japan, and vanilla from Madagascar. We also love our fun, unique, nostalgic favorites such as Saturday Morning Cartoons and Raspberry Beret.
We are proud that our store employs so many local people, including dozens of students, and has been open without an interruption in service during these challenging times for the restaurant industry and most other community spaces, serving people safely inside, and outside from our walk-up window.
Jupiter Moon is a family-based operation, with my daughter, family friends, and partner helping out. Without their support, we could not have grown to be a sustainable business, with all the offerings we have and various events we do.
With our super fun, newly acquired ice cream “trailer,” we will be able to serve even more of our community in central Minnesota, so please look for us out and about, or contact us on our webpage to inquire about having us at your event! We are excited to continue to offer the best local, handmade ice cream to the region. During summers we are open 7 days a week and we are open most of the year, except for January when we take a break to rest and regroup.
Each and every customer is important, and we love connecting with old and new friends!
I’m sure you wouldn’t say it’s been obstacle-free, but so far would you say the journey has been a fairly smooth road?
As with everyone over the last three years, the COVID pandemic was certainly a challenge for Jupiter Moon. We were planning on opening summer of 2020 but put the breaks on that plan for a minute while we figured out a new strategy to deal with the absolute need for social distancing We modified our shop buildout plan to include more dining room space, a walk-up window, and dedicated more production to ice cream to-go pints. The changes and the general uncertainty of the world in 2020 delayed the opening to October 2020. The wait was worth it though as we were able to navigate the uncharted pandemic waters pretty well and stayed open throughout. However…that led to a new challenge. Opening an ice cream shop in Minnesota just before the icy chill of winter descended is a special kind of fun we were not ready for. We needed to drive traffic and quickly pivoted to winter-friendly ice cream including hot chocolate floats and holiday ice cream pies. In the end, it was a blessing in disguise as opening in winter forced a slower pace and gave us time to hone processes that wouldn’t have been possible during the high summer season.
As you know, we’re big fans of Jupiter Moon Ice Cream. For our readers who might not be as familiar what can you tell them about the brand?
Jupiter Moon Ice Cream is many things to many people, however, the thing that runs through everything we do is ‘joy’. There are not many things in this world that are universally joyful but I would argue ice cream is one of them. A visit to Jupiter Moon is not just a transaction it is an event that is rooted in joy. The shop is a wonderful space that is inclusive and welcoming. Everybody is welcome here and we strive to make sure everyone who visits leaves a little bit happier than before they arrived. It’s not hard to do that when ice cream is in the equation, especially when the ice cream is very good.
Jupiter Moon ice cream is made in-house in small batches with premium ingredients and features flavors that go way beyond the standard flavors. My personal favorite is our Lemon Poppy Seed ice cream paired with our Minnesota Cosmic Twilight flavor. The lemon is very smooth in the Lemon Poppy Seed and the tart of the Minnesota berry blend of blueberries and aronia berries in the Minnesota Cosmic Twilight is divine!
People ask us about our name all the time. I like to tell the story that it comes from a chat with our friends at NASA who a few years ago launched the Juno probe to explore Jupiter. Juno discovers many new moons circling our giant neighbor. I believe they are up almost 80. They have taken a close look at them and we have been assured that one of the icy moons is actually made of ice cream. If our moon is made of cheese, then why not ice cream?!
Is there something surprising that you feel even people who know you might not know about?
I have a very varied background and ice cream is just the latest endeavor. I have degrees in meteorology and aviation and have been working in the User Experience (UX) field as a UX Lead for many years. In my spare time, I also dabble in pottery and volunteer as a DJ on my local college indie station.
But without a doubt, the thing that makes people double-take is that I came to Minnesota years ago to work in a traveling carnival running midway games. I did that for two summers and wouldn’t trade that experience for anything in the world.
Contact Info:
- Website: https://www.jupitermoonicecream.com/
- Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/jupitermoonicecream/
- Facebook: https://www.facebook.com/JupiterMoonIceCream/
Image Credits
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