Business Spotlight: Soft Swerve Ice Cream
Jason, co-owner of Soft Swerve Ice Cream
Soft Swerve Ice Cream
85B Allen St.
(646) 476-6311
379 3rd Ave.
(332) 205-2466
softswervenyc.com
Opened by childhood friends Mike and Jason, Soft Swerve, a Longevity Fund grant recipient, has been serving unique, Asian-inspired ice cream flavors from its original location on Allen Street. Over the years, Soft Swerve has captured the hearts of many with their exciting flavor rotations and drool-worthy Instagram page. Read on to learn about how Mike and Jason started their business and how they have been faring during COVID.
Tell us about your business and who you are!
Hi! We are Mike and Jason, the co-founders of Soft Swerve. We opened our first store on Allen Street in 2016 and now have a second location in Kips Bay. We’re known for Asian-inspired flavors such as purple yam (ube), black sesame, and matcha. Everything we offer is made in house. We started off doing soft serve ice cream, but now offer frozen pints and sorbets so people can enjoy our ice cream at home. There are typically 4 soft serve flavors on tap, which rotate seasonally, and up to 16 flavors of frozen options.
What inspired you to start your business?
Mike: After graduating college, I worked for 5 years at a nonprofit that provided affordable housing in the Lower East Side. My parents worked in the restaurant industry, so I grew up around food and always wanted to do something related to food. The catalyst for our ice cream shop appeared on a hot summer day when I stepped out for ice cream to help me cool down. I was craving Asian-flavored mochi ice cream, but could only find large boxes of it in grocery stores. I didn’t want to eat an entire box by myself, so started thinking about creating an ice cream shop. Luckily, Jason was on board with the idea, and we started brainstorming right away.
Jason: Mike is the creative brainchild behind the business, and I mostly handle the business side. I come from a finance background. My family ran a successful laundromat business in the Lower East Side, so I’ve been around business my whole life. For about 12 months, we saved up and polished our idea before quitting our jobs to launch our venture.
The one uncompromisable part of our business was that it had to be in Chinatown. We grew up in Chinatown, and we wanted to make sure we knew our audience and the flavors our customers would want. Our first few flavors — ube, black sesame, and matcha — were so popular that they are still around. Ube was meant to be a seasonal flavor, but customers loved it so much that we keep it on regular rotation.
What are your favorite flavors?
Mike: My favorite is black sesame, and Jason’s favorite is matcha green tea. Both flavors quickly became crowd favorites and are on regular rotation.
We tinkered with the recipes over the years and have finally perfected them. Our matcha is shipped from Japan because we did not want to compromise on the quality of our ingredients. We either had to get the best matcha or not offer the flavor at all.
“We grew up in Chinatown, and we wanted to make sure we knew our audience and the flavors our customers would want.”
How have you been faring with the impact of COVID?
Jason: As we approached lockdown, we weren’t even making 10% of what we made last year, so we decided to shut down from mid-March to early May of 2020 for the safety of our guests and our employees. Now, we’re just trying to survive.
What are some things that you have been doing to stay open?
Jason: We’ve been focusing on hard-packed, frozen ice cream and making it available on delivery platforms, even though delivery services are very expensive. Ever since COVID hit, we haven’t taken a single paycheck, and the company hasn’t been profitable. We’ve since asked all of our employees to come back. As long as they are getting paid, it’s okay.
How has Welcome to Chinatown (WtC) helped your business?
Mike: We are incredibly grateful to receive so much support from Welcome to Chinatown. Aside from the grant, WtC helped promote our store and helped us gain publicity. WtC picked us up from a really dark place. Vic (co-founder of WtC) encouraged us to open our store for Feed the Frontlines to help feed frontline workers. Harry (WtC’s lead designer) and his team created really cool stickers and T-shirts for us. We bought some because we loved the design!
“As we approached lockdown, we weren’t even making 10% of what we made last year….We’re just trying to keep the doors open and keep making ice cream.”
Don’t forget the toppings
How are you planning on using the Longevity Fund grant?
Jason: We’re planning on using the Longevity Fund grant to weather the storm and help pay for rent and utilities. We’re not making any money right now. We’re just trying to keep the doors open and keep making ice cream.
What is one fun fact or something interesting that most people don’t know about Soft Swerve?
Mike: Our name reflects the fact that Jason and I were on different walks of life when we started our business. We once jokingly said to each other that “we were facing a fork in the road, but we chose to pick up spoons.” As we swerved from one direction to the other, Soft Swerve was born.
How can people support your business?
Whenever you have an ice cream craving, just remember that Soft Swerve is here and that we’re open for business!
To learn more about Soft Swerve’s history and story, visit our volunteer and content writer Alice Huang’s blog, HangryAlice.com, for the full interview.
You can also support Soft Swerve through our exclusive Soft Swerve merchandise collection. Profits from sales will go directly to Soft Swerve to help alleviate the burden of added costs from COVID’s impact.
Chinatown establishments like Soft Swerve are what makes the spirit of our neighborhood. We need your support to keep that spirit alive. Please consider donating to The Longevity Fund, our small business relief fund, or help us spread the word of what’s at stake. Together, we can preserve Chinatown businesses and help keep Chinatown open for business.
Photo Credits: Fuxuan Xin, Soft Swerve
