Straus Family Creamery's new Organic Plain Soft Serve Ice Cream Mix, unveiled at Conecon 2026 in Palm Springs, gives foodservice operators a neutral organic canvas for building signature frozen flavors without reformulating from scratch.
The mix carries 10% butterfat — higher than the 8% in Straus' existing Vanilla and Dutch Chocolate options — and contains no egg yolks, making it accessible to operations that need to accommodate egg allergies or simply prefer a cleaner ingredient deck. It is also formulated with 30% less sugar than the brand's Vanilla Soft Serve Mix, a deliberate choice that leaves headroom for operators to fold in matcha powder, fruit purées, syrups, or other flavoring agents without over-sweetening the finished product.
Built for the Machine
Like the rest of Straus Family Creamery's soft serve lineup, Plain requires no prep work: operators pour it directly from the jug into the machine. It ships frozen in 1-gallon containers, four per case, with a 180-day shelf life — a spec that reduces waste risk for lower-volume scoop shops while still giving high-throughput cafés the efficiency of a ready-to-run base. At Conecon's booth No. 228, Straus demonstrated the mix running through a PASMO America soft serve machine alongside caramel from Montana-based sauce maker King's Cupboard, illustrating a build-your-own topping workflow operators could replicate.
All three mixes in the lineup — Vanilla, Dutch Chocolate, and now Plain — are USDA Organic and Non-GMO Project verified, and none contain artificial flavors, colors, or preservatives. The differentiation matters in a foodservice segment increasingly driven by clean-label demand, where operators are under pressure from both guests and institutional buyers to source traceable organic dairy.
What It Means for Operators
"Our foodservice customers choose Straus for the quality of the organic milk and cream behind every serving," said Jim Peck, vice president of sales at Straus Family Creamery. "Plain lets operators customize their soft serve without giving up that quality, which opens up an opportunity for shops that want a soft serve menu that's entirely their own."
For operators running batch freezers rather than soft serve machines, Straus offers a separate Organic Ice Cream Base — a 15% butterfat crème anglaise made with organic cream, milk, sugar, and egg yolks — broadening its relevance across different kitchen setups. The expanded lineup positions Straus as a one-stop organic dairy source for the frozen dessert category, which has seen sustained interest in premium and customizable formats as consumers trade up for experiential menu items.
Founded in 1994 as the first 100% certified organic creamery in the United States, Straus sources milk exclusively from family farms in California's Marin and Sonoma Counties and is working toward carbon neutrality across its supply chain by 2030. That sustainability narrative carries increasing weight with multi-unit operators and hospitality groups building purpose-driven supplier relationships. Conecon runs through November 12 at the Palm Springs Convention Center.
Written by Michael Politz, Author of Guide to Restaurant Success: The Proven Process for Starting Any Restaurant Business From Scratch to Success (ISBN: 978-1-119-66896-1), Founder of Food & Beverage Magazine, the leading online magazine and resource in the industry. Designer of the Bluetooth logo and recognized in Entrepreneur Magazine's "Top 40 Under 40" for founding American Wholesale Floral, Politz is also the Co-founder of the Proof Awards and the CPG Awards and a partner in numerous consumer brands across the food and beverage sector.
