Lotus Creamery owner Matt Sandstrom sells a red T-shirt at his store with a slogan in bold, white font: “HANDMADE ICE CREAM NOT GROCERY STORE ICE CREAM.” The T-shirt represents the store’s ethos: a homemade product.
Sandstrom thinks you can tell the difference between his product and a mass-produced one — by the ice cream’s texture and its creaminess. Also, in his opinion, the widely distributed ice creams do not venture outside the box in terms of flavors.
Now, people going to the store in Hudson have a chance to dictate the flavors of Sandstrom's ice cream.
Sandstrom has a raffle at his store, where patrons can give their name and an idea for a new flavor. Then, he draws a name at random.
After that, he takes the winning concept and turns it into ice cream. His first drawing of the year, for example, led to him making an ice cream that had Nutter Butters and Reese’s peanut butter cups with cookie dough and a lotus butter base. Kids are creative.
“I thought it’d be good for kids to kind of [have] an input into the shop, because a lot of kids come into the stop. It’s kind of based around kids a lot,” he said.
Sandstrom hopes his kid, Lotus, will inherit the store that was named after her someday. And while Sandstrom started the business, the passion for ice cream making has been in the family for a while. Sandstrom, a Hudson local, picked up the craft of ice cream from his grandmother, making the dessert as a hobby at first.
“I want to be here,” Sandstrom said. “I want to be local. I raised my family here, so far, you know?”
If words weren't enough, Sandstrom commissioned a mural with a local emphasis for the shop’s front window. Dena Young, under the artist name Dena June Creations on Facebook, painted the window, which now resembles the Lakefront Park archway with ice cream cones on either side.
Lotus Creamery, located at 502 2nd St., expanded its hours for the summer to Sunday from noon to 8 p.m.; Tuesday and Wednesday from 2 p.m. to 8 p.m.; Thursday and Friday from 2 p.m. to 10 p.m., and Saturday from noon to 10 p.m.
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