On an early summer afternoon at Palmetto Truck Plaza in Hialeah Gardens, amid a pale sea of diagonally parked trailer trucks, Oscar Martinez, seeking refuge from the sun, rests his back against the passenger side door of a cobalt blue semi-trailer cab. After six hours on the road and with temperatures nearing 96 degrees fahrenheit, he’s eager for something cold. Rather than settle for the nearest options, he whips out an Iphone, makes a few quick taps on the screen with his fingers, before casually placing it back in his pocket. By the time he returns from a short comfort break, an Uber Eats driver stands waiting with a large Frozeti Dough Dippin Dots ice cream in hand.
Delivery Everywhere
Today, Oscar’s story is becoming more of the norm than the exception for Miami ice cream delivery. Door-to-door food delivery apps like Uber Eats and DoorDash, who respectively control 23% and 66% of the online food delivery market in the US, according to recent market research, are ubiquitous. Propelled by ever better smartphone technology and easy to scale business models, door-to-door app delivery has been gaining significant traction since the late 2000s. A friend’s home, hotels, offices, parties, park gatherings, or as in Oscar’s case truck stops aren’t unusual delivery spots for door-to-door apps anymore.
Big Changes
In many respects, what’s been one of the more striking facets of door-to-door delivery apps has been the extent to which their product offerings have expanded. Prior to the late 2000s, what people commonly associated to be deliverable or “take out” was pretty limited to a small number of cuisines or dishes. For those around during that era, Pizza and Chinese are probably two most common available choices that easily spring to mind. With the rise of delivery apps, the size of the delivery menu has exploded. Instead of Pizza, in 2023 Uber Eats cited tamales and daiquiris as one of the most frequently paired food and alcohol orders on its app.
Huge Menus
Although ice cream servings may not be not be as exotic as tamales and daiquiris, they certainly haven’t always been the obvious choice for door-to-door delivery for two primary reasons. First, ice cream, if not handled correctly, does melt. People don’t run home after buying ice cream at the supermarket for no reason. Second, many worry about the quality of the product in transit. Imagine, for example, soft serve ice cream shifting around the passenger seat or trunk of a car. Those perceptions about Miami ice cream delivery and elsewhere, however, are quickly changing.
Old Perceptions
Up until recently, consumers have had some pretty strong preconceived perceptions about what’s required to deliver ice cream successfully. Were you to ask someone about how ice cream delivery worked two or three years ago, they would most likely describe a big freezer truck rolling around town on a highly planned route with a carefully managed process around returns of unused stock. Or, they would reference the iconic specialized ice cream truck from their childhood. Balancing those expectations against someone in a car, on a motor scooter, or bicycle from a food app was a challenge especially in Miami, where temperatures run hot relative to the rest of the country.
Insulated Bags
Ironically, the insulated bag technology used to transport individual ice cream servings long predates app services themselves. Made from insulating materials such as polyester, nylon, foam, aluminum, PEVA and PVC, insulated bags when combined with coolants such as ice packs, gels, and dry ice, are highly effective at keeping ice cream cool. They also come in various sizes, accommodate different sized items, and most importantly are designed to ensure their contents remain secure during transit.
Miami Ice Cream Delivery
Still, it took one successful delivery after another to convince both vendors and consumers that consistent high quality ice cream delivery was truly possible. Total Snacks happened to be one of the early adopting vendors to sign up for Miami ice cream delivery via Uber Eats and DoorDash. Aside from seizing an opportunity to capitalize on a fast growing market place, it saw door-to-door delivery apps as a chance to change the perception around how ice cream could be distributed to consumers with less risk. Its Dippin Dots flash frozen ice cream beads pose less risk in terms of quality issues when being transported than soft serve and other more delicate ice cream recipes.
Needless to say, Total Snacks gambled paid off and anyone who orders ice cream delivery in Miami can enjoy the full range of Dippin’ Dots flavors via the Uber Eats and DoorDash app straight to the location of their choosing.
About Total Snacks
Total Snacks’ mission is to always provide the highest quality snack food for people to enjoy wherever and whenever. The business began in 2015 by entrepreneurs Eleazar López Contreras and Mabe León-Ponte, a husband and wife team, who immediately noticed a lack of high quality snacking options around their new home in Miami, Florida. From its humble beginnings as a single retail kiosk, the couple has worked tirelessly and creatively to bring the best in class snack foods to the region.
Today, Total Snacks stands out as the premier provider of snack foods and catering in Miami. Its products can be found in over 300 independent outlets, the company provides contract catering solutions to some of the largest sporting and entertainment venues in the area, while bringing smiles to thousands of people a year through its corporate and private catering activities. Despite its success, Total Snack has never wavered from its core mission to offer the highest quality snack foods and the best customer service.
