Baskin-Robbins is an American multinational chain of

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...

and

cake Cake is a flour confection made from flour, sugar, and other ingredients, and is usually baked. In their oldest forms, cakes were modifications of bread, but cakes now cover a wide range of preparations that can be simple or elaborate ...

speciality shops owned by

Inspire Brands Inspire Brands, Inc. is an American holding company and the owner and franchisor of the Arby's, Buffalo Wild Wings, Sonic Drive-In, Jimmy John's, Rusty Taco, Mister Donut, Dunkin' Donuts and Baskin-Robbins restaurant chains. Inspire operat ...

. Based in

Canton, Massachusetts Canton is a town in Norfolk County, Massachusetts, United States. The population was 24,370 at the 2020 census. Canton is part of Greater Boston, about 15 miles (24 kilometers) southwest of downtown Boston. History The area that would beco ...

, Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by

Burt Baskin Burt "Butch" Baskin (December 17, 1913 December 24, 1967) was an American businessman who co-founded the Baskin-Robbins ice cream parlor chain in 1946 with business partner and brother-in-law Irv Robbins. Early life Burt Baskin was born in Streat ...

(1913–1967) and Irv Robbins (1917–2008) in

Glendale, California Glendale is a city in the San Fernando Valley and Verdugo Mountains regions of Los Angeles County, California, United States. At the 2020 U.S. Census the population was 196,543, up from 191,719 at the 2010 census, making it the fourth-larges ...

.Our History
". Baskin-Robbins' web site. Accessed 25 Feb. 2013. It is the world's largest chain of ice cream speciality stores, with more than 8,000 locations, including nearly 2,500 shops in the

United States The United States of America (U.S.A. or USA), commonly known as the United States (U.S. or US) or America, is a country Continental United States, primarily located in North America. It consists of 50 U.S. state, states, a Washington, D.C., ...

and over 5,000 in other countries. Baskin-Robbins has stores in nearly 50 countries. The company is known for its "31 flavors" slogan, with the idea that a customer could have a different flavor every day of any month. The slogan came from the Carson-Roberts advertising agency (which later merged into

Ogilvy & Mather Ogilvy is a New York City-based British advertising, marketing, and public relations agency. It was founded in 1850 by Edmund Mather as a London-based advertising agency, agency. In 1964, the firm became known as Ogilvy & Mather after merging wit ...

) in 1953. Baskin and Robbins believed that people should be able to sample flavors for free until they found one they wanted to buy. The company has introduced more than 1,300 flavors since 1945, including the 2019 addition of

vegan Veganism is the practice of abstaining from the use of animal product—particularly in diet—and an associated philosophy that rejects the commodity status of animals. An individual who follows the diet or philosophy is known as a vegan. ...

and non-

dairy A dairy is a business enterprise established for the harvesting or processing (or both) of animal milk – mostly from cows or buffaloes, but also from goats, sheep, horses, or camels – for human consumption. A dairy is typically located on ...

flavors. The company has been based in Canton, Massachusetts, since 2004 after moving from Randolph, Massachusetts.

History

Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1948 by American brothers-in-law

and Irv Robbins from the merging of their respective ice cream parlors, in

. Burt Baskin learned about ice cream while he was in the military during

World War II World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the World War II by country, vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great power ...

. He somehow obtained some equipment and started making ice cream for other soldiers. He even got a little experimental with it when he started using some tropical fruits. After the war he wanted to continue with his ice cream business, so he opened up Burton's Ice Cream Shop in California in 1946. Irv Robbins had been in the ice cream business his entire life. When he was a teenager in 1930s, Robbins managed an ice cream counter in his father's store. He too entered the military during World War II. As soon as he returned he used $6,000 to open Snowbird Ice Cream in California in 1945. During Baskin's time in the military, he married Robbin's sister, Shirley Robbins. In 1948, they decided to combine their companies into one and call it Baskin-Robbins. Snowbird Ice Cream offered 21 flavors, a novel concept at that time. When the separate companies merged in 1948, the number of flavors was expanded to 31. Old Baskin-Robbins Logo

By 1948, Burt and Irv had opened six stores. The first franchise covering the sale of ice cream was executed May 20, 1948, for the store at 1130 South Adams in Glendale (Store #1). In 1949, the company's production facility opened in Burbank. Burt and Irv made the decision to start selling the stores to the managers. In 1953, Baskin-Robbins hired Carson-Roberts Advertising who recommended adoption of the number 31 as well as the pink (cherry) and brown (chocolate) polka dots and typeface that were reminiscent of the circus. The first store that adopted the new 31 look was 804 North Glendale Ave. in Glendale, California, in March 1953. Between 1949 and 1962, the corporate firm was Huntington Ice Cream Company. The name succeeded ''The Baskin-Robbins Partnership,'' and was eventually changed back to Baskin-Robbins, Inc. on November 26, 1962. Baskin-Robbins was owned by its founders until it was acquired in 1967 (just prior to Burt Baskin's death) by

United Fruit The United Fruit Company (now Chiquita) was an American multinational corporation that traded in tropical fruit (primarily bananas) grown on Latin American plantations and sold in the United States and Europe. The company was formed in 1899 fro ...

. In the 1970s, the chain went international, opening stores in

Japan Japan ( ja, 日本, or , and formally , ''Nihonkoku'') is an island country in East Asia. It is situated in the northwest Pacific Ocean, and is bordered on the west by the Sea of Japan, while extending from the Sea of Okhotsk in the n ...

Saudi Arabia Saudi Arabia, officially the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia (KSA), is a country in Western Asia. It covers the bulk of the Arabian Peninsula, and has a land area of about , making it the fifth-largest country in Asia, the second-largest in the Ara ...

South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Peninsula and sharing a Korean Demilitarized Zone, land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed ...

, and

Australia Australia, officially the Commonwealth of Australia, is a sovereign country comprising the mainland of the Australian continent, the island of Tasmania, and numerous smaller islands. With an area of , Australia is the largest country by ...

. During the 1970s, two future American celebrities got their first jobs at Baskin-Robbins.

Chris Buck Christopher James Buck (born February 24, 1958) is an American film director, animator, and screenwriter known for co-directing '' Tarzan'' (1999), '' Surf's Up'' (2007) (which was nominated for the 2007 Oscar for Best Animated Feature), '' F ...

applied icing to ice cream cakes prior to his high school graduation in 1976.

Barack Obama Barack Hussein Obama II ( ; born August 4, 1961) is an American politician who served as the 44th president of the United States from 2009 to 2017. A member of the Democratic Party (United States), Democratic Party, Obama was the first Af ...

spent the summer of 1978 scooping ice cream. In 1972, the company went public for the first time in its history when United Brands sold 17% in an IPO. A year later, the British food company J. Lyons and Co. purchased Baskin-Robbins from United Brands and all public stock. J. Lyons then merged with Allied Breweries, becoming Allied-Lyons in 1978. Allied-Lyons then merged with Pedro Domecq S.A. in 1994, becoming

Allied Domecq Allied Domecq PLC was an international company, headquartered in Bristol, United Kingdom, that operated spirits, wine, and quick service restaurant businesses. It was once a FTSE 100 Index constituent but has been acquired by Pernod Ricard. The ...

. Baskin-Robbins and

Dunkin' Donuts Dunkin' Donuts LLC, also known as Dunkin' and by the initials DD, is an American multinational coffee and doughnut company, as well as a quick service restaurant. It was founded by Bill Rosenberg (1916–2002) in Quincy, Massachusetts, in ...

comprise Dunkin' Brands, Inc. Dunkin' Brands was part of Allied Domecq until its purchase in 2006 by a group of private equity firms -

Bain Capital Bain Capital is an American private investment firm based in Boston. It specializes in private equity, venture capital, credit, public equity, impact investing, life sciences, and real estate. Bain Capital invests across a range of industry se ...

, Thomas H. Lee Partners, and

The Carlyle Group The Carlyle Group is a multinational private equity, alternative asset management and financial services corporation based in the United States with $376 billion of assets under management. It specializes in private equity, real assets, and ...

In 2006, the company's "BR" logo was updated such that it doubles as the number "31" to represent the 31 flavors, with the "31" formed by the parts of the letters "BR" which are rendered in pink, in contrast to the rest of the logo which is rendered in blue. In 2008, Baskin-Robbins launched a full menu of frozen desserts called "BRight Choices". These included frozen yogurt, reduced-fat ice cream, no sugar added ice cream, and dairy-free ice cream flavors. Irv Robbins died at Eisenhower Medical Center in

Rancho Mirage, California Rancho Mirage is a city in Riverside County, California, United States. The population was 17,218 at the 2010 census, up from 13,249 at the 2000 census, but the seasonal (part-time) population can exceed 20,000. Incorporated in 1973 and locate ...

, on May 5, 2008, at age 90. In August 2012, Dunkin' Brands became completely independent of the private equity firms. Dunkin' Donuts Baskin Robbins, Thomasville

Dunkin' Donuts Baskin Robbins, Thomasville

While Baskin-Robbins struggled in the early years of the 2000s to retain business with competitors such as frozen yogurt shops, 2013 saw a turnaround in the company's fortunes, with four new U.S. stores opened. An additional five to ten shops were planned to open in 2014. However, Baskin-Robbins ultimately surpassed that goal with a grand total of 17 net new openings throughout 2014, and continued growth of the brand with 15 new stores opened in 2015. Many new Baskin-Robbins shops are co-branded with Dunkin' Donuts, including California's first co-branded location of the two in San Diego, which opened in March 2014. In 2014, Baskin-Robbins also began selling its ice cream for the first time in supermarkets across the U.S. In July 2017, Baskin-Robbins started adding their locations to delivery service platform

DoorDash DoorDash, Inc. is an American company that operates an online food ordering and food delivery platform. The company is based in San Francisco, California. It went public in December 2020 on NYSE and trades under the symbol DASH. With a 56 ...

to deliver ice cream in 22 cities across United States. In the same month they gave free samples of Mint Chocolate Chip Polar Pizza at stores across the country from noon to 5 pm. Baskin-Robbins began testing a new store format featuring state-of-the-art display cases, original artwork and new product offerings in late 2018. The "Moments" concept was first showcased in

Fresno, California Fresno () is a major city in the San Joaquin Valley of California, United States. It is the county seat of Fresno County and the largest city in the greater Central Valley region. It covers about and had a population of 542,107 in 2020, maki ...

, followed by

El Paso, Texas El Paso (; "the pass") is a city in and the seat of El Paso County in the western corner of the U.S. state of Texas. The 2020 population of the city from the U.S. Census Bureau was 678,815, making it the 23rd-largest city in the U.S., the ...

. As a publicity stunt for the third season of ''

Stranger Things ''Stranger Things'' is an American science fiction horror drama television series created by the Duffer Brothers, who also serve as showrunners and are executive producers along with Shawn Levy and Dan Cohen. Produced by Monkey Massacre Pr ...

'', Baskin-Robbins allowed its most popular location in

Burbank, California Burbank is a city in the southeastern end of the San Fernando Valley in Los Angeles County, California, United States. Located northwest of downtown Los Angeles, Burbank has a population of 107,337. The city was named after David Burbank, who ...

, to be transformed into a Scoops Ahoy for two weeks. Actors and Baskin-Robbins staff members wore Scoops Ahoy uniforms and pretended to work for Scoops Ahoy. The stunt was so popular people had to stand in line for four hours. Clues for an

alternate reality game An alternate reality game (ARG) is an interactive networked narrative that uses the real world as a platform and employs transmedia storytelling to deliver a story that may be altered by players' ideas or actions. The form is defined by inten ...

included the participation of all 2,500 locations. In December 2020, Dunkin' Brands was purchased by

. Baskin-Robbins debuted an updated logo, alongside the new tagline "Seize the Yay", on April 11, 2022.

International

Baskin-Robbins has more than 8,000 shop locations in: Aruba, Australia, Bahrain, Bangladesh, Bhutan, Canada, China, Colombia, Curaçao, Dominican Republic, Ecuador, Estonia, Egypt, Honduras, India, Indonesia, Ireland, Japan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, Malaysia, Morocco, Nepal, Oman, Pakistan, Qatar, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Korea, Spain, Sri Lanka, Taiwan, Thailand, Tajikistan, United Arab Emirates, United Kingdom, United States, Uzbekistan, Vietnam and Yemen. International locations feature flavors of ice cream popular to the tastes of each country, such as Red Bean, Litchi Gold, Blackcurrant and Cantaloupe. The most popular flavor of Baskin Robbins in Asia are Mint Chocolate Chip and Cookies & Cream. Baskin-Robbins has previously been present in other countries such as Armenia, Azerbaijan, Belarus, Malta, Maldives, Mauritius, Mexico, Netherlands, Panama, Portugal, Russia, South Africa and St. Maarten. In Japan, Taiwan and mainland China, Baskin-Robbins is known popularly as "31" or "31 ice cream". On November 26, 2022, Baskin-Robbins announced that all of its Philippine stores will be closed by December 31, 2022.

Australia

Baskin-Robbins Australia is a wholly owned and operated subsidiary of Inspire Brands, the parent company of Baskin-Robbins and Dunkin'. In October 2010, Dunkin' Brands terminated its license agreement with Allied Brands Group for Baskin-Robbins in Australia, and now supports its Australian franchisees directly. The Baskin-Robbins Australia Franchise Support & Training Centre is based in Brisbane.

Controversies

In 2019, an ad advertising a new ice cream flavor in South Korea, "Pink Star", featuring child model Ella Gross, sparked a controversy, with some describing the ad as "overly sexualized". The company withdrew the ad and apologized to its customers.

References

External links