America's oldest ice cream brand calls Philadelphia home

Bassetts Ice Cream Still Defines a Taste of Philadelphia

At Reading Terminal Market, where lines still form regardless of the weather, Bassetts Ice Cream remains one of Philadelphia’s most enduring institutions — and, by its own history, America’s oldest ice cream company.

The family business traces its roots to 1861, when founder Lewis Dubois Bassett began making ice cream and bringing it into Philadelphia to sell at market. When Reading Terminal Market opened in the 1890s, Bassetts opened a stand there and never left, creating a continuity few food businesses in the country can match.

Today, Alex Bassett Strange, a sixth-generation family member, says that longevity comes down to consistency and restraint. “It’s my great-grandfather’s recipe, and we haven’t changed anything,” Bassett Strange told CBS Philadelphia. “We’re committed to a high butterfat, 16.4% milk fat recipe. It’s Philadelphia style, and we’re not chasing the trends.”

That Philadelphia style — made without egg yolk and designed to emphasize fresh cream — has become central to the company’s identity. So has its connection to the city and the region. Bassetts says it uses Pennsylvania dairy and has expanded beyond its historic market counter to serve customers across the country and overseas.

Still, the heart of the brand remains in Philadelphia, where tradition is part of the product. “Each generation that works in it is really a steward of the brand and the recipe,” Bassett Strange said.

For a company that has lasted more than 160 years, that may be the clearest explanation of all: Bassetts is not simply selling ice cream. In Philadelphia, it is preserving a piece of local history, one scoop at a time.

America’s oldest ice cream brand calls Philadelphia home was originally published on rnbphilly.com