Business of the Week: Nona's Homemade Ice Cream

Nona’s Homemade Ice Cream  has announced they will  open a second location in Scituate in March.

This quaint Hingham store has dominated the ice cream business in town for over 10  years, and  now owner Krissy Donahue wants to bring her success to Scituate.

Still fully committed to serving Hingham, the new location will take full advantage of the year round desire that New Englanders have for the frozen product and Donahue is hoping that Scituate residents will also learn to eat dessert first.

“I’ve always wanted a second location,“said Donahue who decided to open the shop after working for a national yogurt chain. “Years ago we had one in Hull by the carousel, which was seasonal. We’re keeping this one going but it’s the chance to grow some more. It’s a 25-minute drive between Scituate Harbor and here, so I don’t know how many people drive from Scituate to get ice cream in Hingham. Years ago we did a study and we asked people to put a dot where they lived when they came in here; 85 percent lived within one mile.”

Nona's is the nickname that Donahue's four children call their grandmother.  A familiar fixture on Main Street for eleven years, as well as a seasonal truck, the independent and family-run business has cemented its place in the affections of local residents with a constantly high standard of dessert treats.

Continually evolving and rotating flavors are another reason for Nona’s popularity, helped by a series of imaginative names that includes Hurricane Madilyn, Baxter Turtle, Heath Bare Cove Crunch and Hingham Harbor Sludge. 

“They say that New Englanders eat more ice cream than anyone else in the country,” Donahue said. “Before we opened, this store was a TCBY (The Country’s Best Yogurt) and we changed it. Statistics showed that 85 percent of people eat ice cream and 15 percent eat yoghurt, so I thought why are we selling yogurt?”

Traditionally ice cream was something that would only be eaten when the weather was warm but the national success of a certain brand from Vermont has contributed to the way that ice cream makers conduct their business, even in the traditionally colder months. 

“Winter is definitely much slower but people do eat ice cream all year round,” said Donahue. “Traffic fluctuates with the weather, if it is a rainy day no-one comes in but if the sun is out, no matter what the temperature, you might get people. We even had a father and daughter who used to come in during a snowstorm, that was their thing.”

During the summer, Nona’s produces 750 gallons of ice cream per week but, understandably, output is reduced in the winter to anywhere between 30 to 60 gallons. All the ice creams are created on the premises and take around 15 minutes to prepare, mixed by hand before being placed into an ice cream maker.

Nona’s normally carries 30 flavors of ice cream per day and 5 flavors of yogurt with seasonal variations like pumpkin and apple pie also added to the expansive list of cold creations. The basic flavors of vanilla, chocolate and coffee are a permanent fixture but the other treats are rotated on a regular basis. Hingham Harbor Sludge (chocolate ice cream with Oreos, fudge and caramel) and Hurricane Madilyn (vanilla with brownies, chocolate chips and a fudge swirl) are continually popular but new flavors are introduced two to three times per year.

Every March 10, Donahue celebrates the anniversary of the store’s opening by selling ice creams for one dollar ahd she credits her continued success to the ice cream flavors names and "gooey combinations.”

Some of the more unusual names were created for a reason. Donahue has four children and each one has a flavor named after them; Mocha Mia, Johnny B Good, Mister Christian’s Bounty and Hurricane Madilyn. Baxter Turtle was created in honor of three former employees from the same family and, on occasions, a competition has been run to let local residents come up with a flavor and name.

“The contests are very hard,” Donahue admits. “People put crazy things in or they’ll come up with a great name but not a great flavor so we don’t do it that often.”

One of the more popular flavors was actually inspired by a NASA astronaut.

Cohastronaut is a light mocha ice cream with a fudge swirl, chopped thin mint candies with a hint of mint flavoring and was produced to honor Steve Bowen, a Cohasset native who made it into space.

“That’s a really cool flavor," Donahue said. "There was a NASA astronaut who graduated Cohasset High School and in 2008 he was going up for his first trip in a space shuttle. My sister, who was in the year below, said that we had to do a flavor for him because it was really exciting that he graduated locally and became an astronaut. We called him in Houston and it turns out that he loves ice cream. He created this flavor... 'It was created by a NASA astronaut, how many times can you say that?' ”

Nona’s product has even caught the attention of popular Hingham chef Paul Wahlberg who now uses their ice cream in the frappes at his new burger joint,  Donahue hasn’t actually visited the burger restaurant at Hingham Shipyard because she doesn’t eat meat but is happy that their product is being appreciated in other venues. 

Nona's second location will provide a new challenge for Donahue, but she is confident that Hingham’s love affair with Nona’s will continue even if the economic climate remains the same.

“My grandfather, who was a restaurateur, used to say when things get tough, open an ice cream shop,” Donahue said. “I used the worry about other things opening up but I don’t anymore. I think that people eat where they are but we’ve been around long enough to not worry about it.”

Business of the Week is a new Patch column that will feature one Hingham business each Saturday.  Last week, Hingham Patch and how they will open their next location at the Derby Street Shoppes.