There’s nothing like the smooth, cool, creaminess of ice cream on a hot summer day. When it comes to flavors—ice cream truly runs the gamut and in recent years the creativity has been upped a notch. And while there are several Black owned ice cream shops across the United States, there is only one Black owned brand that you can access nationwide: Cream’a’licious. Founded by Liz Rogers in 2013, she is combining the deliciousness of Southern desserts with the delectability of ice cream. Rogers shares why she founded Cream’a’licious, her journey in entrepreneurship, and why you should try her ice cream this summer.
Rogers’ passion for food developed while growing up in Cleveland, Ohio. She carefully watched and cooked with both her grandmother and mother whose Southern heritage influenced her culinary focus. Feeling a calling, she dedicated her life to food, turning her passion into a career. Rogers became an Executive Chef and even opened award-winning restaurants throughout Ohio, including Wing Champ. She shares that “the need to be innovative,” along with the inspiration of her “family and my love of desserts,” is what birthed Cream’a’Licious.
The name is a play on the word delicious and is almost a 2-for-1 when it comes to desserts. Rogers boasts, “it’s the best of both worlds.” The chef pairs Southern baked goods and combines them with ice cream. Flavors like Porch Light Peach Cobbler, Gigi’s Sweet Potato Pie, or Fried Chicken and Waffles instantly brings the South to your mouth. Rogers elaborates, “We feature culinary inspired desserts inspired by four generations of family owned recipes and intertwine them in a super-premium ice cream base.”
Rogers’ ice cream is now available nationwide via Wal-Mart; however, her dedication and perseverance has led her to today’s success. She reveals, “The hardest part about being an entrepreneur is the rejection and all the ups and downs you get when you start your journey.” Nevertheless, she persisted and is working to make Cream’a’Licious not only a nationwide brand, but also a global one. She’s proud of the product she’s created out of love and her family’s recipes stating, “The most interesting thing for me was realizing my dream could become a reality. I believed in something bigger than myself. I believe there is a dream in every scoop.”
Cream’a’Licious is the first and only African-American ice cream manufacturer in the world in mass production today. For Rogers, the next step for her company is from a philanthropic angle. She plans to “help rebuild communities one scoop of a time,” through her self-named non-profit, the Elizabeth A. Rogers Visionary Foundation. She shares, “A portion of the Cream’a’Licious sales will be directed to a fund to assist future entrepreneurs with resources to help establish and sustain their businesses.” Rogers has a passion for helping small businesses believing that “in order to rebuild communities, we must first invest in ourselves as entrepreneurs and invest in others so that they may pay it forward and we can begin to build together.” As for right now, Rogers hopes her ice cream will help consumers remember “when family meant something and when indulgence gave us life!”
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