America’s Top Shaved Ice Franchise Moving Into Food, Toy and Lifestyle Categories
TLL Staff
The shaved ice brand Kona Ice is moving into licensing, partnering with top agency Brandgenuity.
The new partners say that despite summer coming to an end, the mobile food franchise’s licensing activities are just starting to heat up.
Kona Ice is the largest mobile food franchise in the United States, with nearly 3,000 points of sale. The company says selecting Brandgenuity as its partners is a strategic move designed to bring the popular brand, its iconic trucks, colorful characters and refreshing flavors to new categories and retail channels.
CEO of Kona Ice Tony Lamb says he’s sweet on licensing as a way to grow the brand footprint and delight Kona Ice fans.
“We are thrilled to be getting our licensing program off the ground and delighted to have found the
perfect partner in Brandgenuity,” said Lamb. “We aren’t just selling delicious treats—we deliver an experience that is always fun, interactive, delicious, safe and high quality.”
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While Brandgenuity is among the world’s largest licensing agency, Lamb says the primary reason for choosing the firm was the connection between the two teams.
“The Brandgenuity team really understood our product and our mission,” he said. “Nothing compares to the fun of watching kids running up to a Kona Ice truck after a soccer game yelling “Kona Ice! Kona Ice,” and that is how we want consumers to feel about our licensed products as well.”
Kona Ice was founded in 2007 by Lamb, who launched his first ‘Kona Entertainment Vehicle (KEV) in Florence, Kentucky. The trucks’ proprietary Flavorwave technology is a big part of the experience, as it allows customers to create their own flavor experience.
Today, shaved ice fans everywhere can enjoy Kona Ice at sporting events, school functions, camps, corporate
events and gatherings of all kinds. Each Kona Ice truck is equipped with the innovative Flavorwave
system, allowing guests to customize their shaved ice with a variety of high-quality, fruit-based flavors.
This interactive feature combined with vibrant branding and lively calypso music is part of Kona’s goal of creating an unforgettable experience for customers of all ages.
Beyond serving delicious treats, Kona Ice is committed to community support with their mission: ‘Be Good. Do Good. For Good.’
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Since its inception, Kona Ice has donated an astounding sum of more than $180 million to local schools, organizations and teams through its giveback programs. Nonprofits and local organizations can
hire a truck for events and the franchisee shares a percentage of its earnings with their partners.
“So many Millennial and Gen Zers love this brand,” said Jay Asher, Managing Director at Brandgenuity.
“We plan to leverage Kona Ice’s most popular flavors (Tiger’s Blood, Ninja Cherry and Monster Mango
to name a few), extend the highly decorated, colorful and instantly recognizable trucks into toys and role
play and we also have tons of fun, colorful, creative ideas for lifestyle too.”
Anyone interested in licensing opportunities can contact Brandgenuity at info@brandgenuity.com or visit brandgenuity.com to learn more.