This year, Valpo Velvet is celebrating its 69th year in business thanks to their loyal customers! Cathy Brown, Co-owner of Valpo Velvet, says “We are extremely grateful for the support we receive, and we do our best daily to reciprocate whenever possible. We are very grateful to be part of such an amazing community that has supported us since day one.  We pride ourselves in giving back to the community by donating our time and our ice cream to worthy causes.”

One lucky event that receives support from Valpo Velvet is Tri Kappa’s annual Taste of Valparaiso. Taking place this year on May 26^th at the Porter County Expo, Valpo Velvet will join over 30 restaurants in sharing their signature dishes for a good cause. “We’ve got incredible support from the local restaurant community,” says Susan Scuderi, 2016 Taste of Valparaiso Chairperson. “They donate all of the food and their time so that 100% of the profits can go back to the community in the form of scholarships, grants, and projects.

Cathy Brown believes Valpo Velvet may be the only restaurant that has participated all 26 years at the Taste of Valparaiso. “This gives us great pride. A lot of hard work goes into making Valpo Velvet ice cream from absolute scratch and without great customers that recognize the dedication and quality of our product, we wouldn’t have a business,” says Cathy.

Valpo Velvet is now entering its 4th generation of Browns to make Valpo Velvet Ice Cream. Vanilla is still the most popular flavor and Vanilla Malts are still the chosen drink among the Brown Family. Some other popular flavors are Chocolate Almond, Mint Chocolate Chip, and Butter Pecan. Fairly new flavors such as Chocolate Dipped Strawberry and Superman are holding their own. Valpo Velvet makes sorbet too, to keep up with the ever-changing diets of their customers.

Their fare is not just limited to ice cream. Valpo Velvet serves gourmet sandwiches, soups, and salads for lunch and dinner. They also have started to do quite a bit of catering, graduation parties, weddings, birthday parties…they will come to your event and do all the work. Some people like simple scoops and others like the Vintage Sundae Bar! Valpo Velvet is excited to add two mobile trucks to their arsenal so please look for them when you are out and about this festival season!

Pictured is Mike’s Dad, Gordon Brown. He perfected the recipe for Valpo Velvet with his Father, Herb, and their Dairy Engineering degrees, both from University of Wisconsin. Mike and his brother Mark still use these recipes and make it exactly the same. Gordon’s wife, Bette Brown was involved making homemade pies and soups.  For the most part, it has remained a 2-3 person operation. The boys make it from scratch, fill each and every container by hand, and deliver it to the stores themselves.