4730 E. Indian School Road • Scooptacular
Curry, ketchup, hot dogs, Guinness…no ingredient is too outlandish for the owners of Scooptacular, the family-run ice cream shop that's opened its second location in Arcadia. Nindi Wadhwa has combined her love of food with her love of family to create a shop serving homemade ice cream, shaved ice, tapioca and more.
Where are you from?
I'm originally from Ontario, Canada, but have always wanted to live in Phoenix since I was a little girl. I've always been fascinated by saguaro cacti and wanted to have one in my yard. My wife gave me one for Father's Day 7 years ago!
I love the heat. I love the warmth. Our summers are awful but I definitely prefer them to Canadian winters. We've lived here for 16 years.
What was your career path that got you here?
When I was a kid, I wanted to be an airplane pilot, so that's my full-time job. I got laid off in 2008 and I was like, “Okay, what do I do now?” Before we started ice cream, my wife and I had a few businesses. A candy vending machine and a poop pickup company that we started ourselves. After I got laid off, I went back to school and got my master's degree. As graduation approached, I was trying to figure out what to do next.
How did you get to the ice cream shop?
My wife worked at Starbucks and there was a Cold Stone right next door, but it closed down. I don't know what we were thinking, but we were like, “It says it's for lease, let's call them up.” We called the landlord, we looked around and we realized that the skeleton of an ice cream shop was all there.
Lavigne had nothing family-friendly. [where the original location is] At the time, I had a 2-and-a-half-year-old daughter, and I thought it would be nice to have a place for father-daughter dates. I didn't realize at the time that it would be a contradiction to run a store for dates, because as soon as I walked in, I was in work mode. But I still wanted a place that was family-friendly.
We did some research and found a Yahoo group — I know I'm old, but this is a group for independent ice cream shop owners — and we contacted a few companies and got samples, and then we started talking to a guy in Kansas City who told us, “You can make your own ice cream!”
There was a crash course in St. Louis, so I took that, and then I went to his store in Kansas City. He was awesome. Really helped me out. Some of our flavors are recipes that he gave us as a foundation. We opened in May 2009.
What was that like?
The first time I made ice cream was about a month before we opened. It's a funny story, but I was trying to make a Cookie Monster flavor. You take five gallons of milk and pour it into the machine to extract. I was pouring the milk, and my wife was sitting there giving the milk to our daughter. There's an extract valve, and I forgot to close it, so I poured it in, and five gallons of milk spilled all over the floor of the store. That first week was, of course, a huge learning experience.
How do you make ice cream?
You can make it at home! All you need is milk, cream and sugar. Add your favorite flavors and freeze. It's that easy. The ratio is key. We partner with a dairy company that has been working with us for 14 years, who makes our ice cream blends – milk, cream, sugar, stabilizers, emulsifiers.
What does Scooptacular offer?
Our ice cream is, of course, handmade in-house. We also do shaved ice. It's like kissing a snow angel. We shave a block of ice and add flavors on top. We also do ice cream cakes, but they're all ice cream and not cake. They're two layers with a flaky crust in the middle. We also offer shakes, sundaes, floats, puppy ice cream, and cake pops.
How do you decide on the flavor?
Some are just to inspire us. I was watching Food Network the other day and they were making green curry ice cream, and I thought, 'Oh, I have curry paste in the fridge!'
It's really a team collaboration. We have a production manager who loves to play with food, so she comes up with all the creations, but we also play around with them. We also have customers who suggest flavors. The chocolate covered strawberries were created by a customer.
Where do you source your ingredients?
Around the world. Our vanilla is a blend of Madagascar bourbon. It's all about finding the best ingredients to make the flavor pop. We use 14 percent butterfat cream, so we need plenty of flavor to make the flavor pop. That's why we get calls all the time asking to send samples. We try everything we can.
Are there any flavors that didn't work for you?
Oh yeah, I did hot dog ice cream. It was awful, but people came. Kids came to try it. It was a hot dog chunk mixed with ketchup and mustard. Definitely not. [laughs].
The first year, we also did a Thanksgiving ice cream with turkey and sweet potato and cranberries. It didn't do too well at first, but now we feature it every year. In 2012, this ice cream became a national hit on Thanksgiving morning. We cook a real turkey, remove the bones, soak it in milk for a few days, and strain it. If you weren't told, you'd never know there was turkey in it!
What is your favorite part about owning your own business?
First, our team. Our manager, Josh, has been with us for six years. It's been really great watching them grow and being a part of their lives. The other aspect is being able to be a part of the community.
When we opened our first store, the economy was struggling and crime was skyrocketing. Some people thought we were crazy to open a store. We wanted to be a beacon of hope, a place where people could come and escape. We got involved with schools and saw what we could do. It's definitely a privilege to be able to make a difference.
What's the most difficult part?
The pandemic was a challenge for us. We were able to stay open, but pricing was a challenge. Labor costs were going up, ingredients were going up, packaging costs were going up. I remember one day we had just one box of cups left, so we went online to find a manufacturer, who was selling them for three times the price.
I think the hardest thing about business is balancing the costs. The amount of work, effort and revenue that goes into owning a business is not as much as people think.
Why did you choose Arcadia for your second location?
“We have been wanting to expand for a while and were looking in the Valley area. This location was vacant so we looked into it and realized that Arcadia has a small town feel and reminded us of Laveen. It's like a small community. Our state of Missouri is family oriented and community based so this area is a perfect fit.”
Outside of work:
What do you enjoy doing?
Spending time with my family. My kids are 16, 14 and 9 and they're amazing. It can be hard, but we have a lot of fun together. My oldest son will be going off to college in two years so that will change our relationship. Right now I want to maximize the time I spend with my kids.
Do you think your kids will go into this industry?
Both of my daughters want to go into the medical industry. The hard part is they see behind the scenes. Owning your own business is always going to be hard, but they're seeing a lot of it now and it's rather discouraging. They've seen the good and the bad. My son wants to be the next Amazon. [laughs]He has a talent for engineering.
What would you like our readers to know about Scooptacular?
We are more than just an ice cream shop. We love serving the local community and providing a great experience. Our guiding principles are authenticity and honesty.
What does the future hold for your business?
We hope to open a third store in the next few years. We want to have more stores, but we also want to expand our wholesale division. There are a lot of stores in the Valley, but we want to make it a family-friendly area.
