History of Dippin' dots, a summertime staple

You probably recognize this ice-cream pellets as the ice cream of the future. They're Dippin' dots, a summertime staple. But this confectionery treat didn't start as well ice cream. It started as Cal feed.

Dippin' dots were invented in the 80s, not by an ice cream brand but by a microbiologist, Curtis Jones, specialized in cryogenics. In 1987 he was working for a biotech company in Kentucky trying to figure out how to make food for farm animals more efficient. His big breakthrough came when he flash froze cattle feed 350 degrees below zero, which produce small pellets.

Serendipitously, Curtis loved making ice cream. Next thing he knew he was using liquid nitrogen to freeze ice cream at extremely low temperatures and ended up with small beads of it when eaten the natural heat of the mouth melted the beads and thus Dippin' dots was born.
A year later he formed the company out of his parents' garage in Illinois. But there was a problem Curtis had nowhere to sell the product. Dippin' dots need to be stored at such a cold temperature that it made it impossible for grocery stores to house the tasty treat. So he got creative and marketed his product to alternate locations.

Now they're sold at amusement parks festivals zoos and other summertime destinations but whether or not they really are the ice cream of your future we'll just have to wait and see.