From afar it looks like another vending machine. Up close, however, the MooBella Ice Creamery Machine is so much more.
The CEO of the Taunton-based company, Bruce Ginsberg, calls it a “mini manufacturing plant.”
After slapping a blue ribbon on it late last month, the judges of the Consumer Goods Technology Innovation Awards called it the “ATM of ice cream.”
“It allows customers to customize their own ice cream flavors at the point of sale,” Ginsberg said. “You walk up to the machine, press a few buttons and 40 seconds later you have all-natural, real, fresh-made ice cream customized to your choice.”
And when Ginsberg says he wants to revolutionize the world of ice cream globally, he’s not even close to kidding. Launching last January after Boston-based entrepreneur Paul Kateman spent nine years perfecting the prototype, MooBella is already at 40 locations in Massachusetts, Connecticut and New York. In Boston their locations include Northeastern University, Logan Airport and the New England Aquarium.
Their goal is to have 100 locations by spring, 250 locations by the end of 2011.
“It’s fun seeing a smile on people’s faces,” Ginsberg said.
