NORTHAMPTON — In February, Herrell’s asked customers to join in its annual “What’s Your Flavor Idea?” contest, which ran in both Herrell’s Ice Cream locations: 83 Cowls Road (Mill District), North Amherst, and 8 Old South St., (Thornes Marketplace), Northampton.

The winning flavors are:

• Northampton: Polar Bear Poop (vanilla ice cream with cookie dough pieces and marshmallow swirl); and

• Amherst: Mango Lassi (inspired by the drink, hard-packed frozen yogurt containing mango and cardamom).

“We have chosen the winning flavors Polar Bear Poop and Mango Lassi, and they will be served starting on April 24,” owner Judy Herrell said. “This year, we had a huge volume of entries and had several possible winners to make into ice cream to test. People have delicious ideas.”

AddedRose Ritter, Herrell’s Ice Cream making and kitchen manager, “we received wonderfully innovative flavor combinations to try. It was tough choosing winners. We really love it when our community engages with us to make flavor history.”

AMHERST — Beginning on Friday, March 13, Herrell’s Ice Cream will be introducing five new flavors from the UMass Amherst Food Science Department’s 2025 Ice Cream Competition. The new flavors will be sold in both the Mill District and Thornes Marketplace locations.

The flavors being introduced are:

• $treet Nut$ (this year’s winner), a smoky molasses-cinnamon base with peanut butter, caramel swirl, and chocolate-covered pretzels;

• Guavalicious, a guava-cardamom base with cream cheese chunks;

• Date Night, floral date ice cream with a goji berry swirl;

• Tahini in a Bottle, a tahini-almond base with both pomegranate/raspberry and chocolate swirls; and

• Funky Monkey, a banana, goat cheese, cream cheese, gorgonzola cheese, and brie cheese base with apricot and graham cracker pieces.

“We are very impressed with all these flavors,” said Rose Ritter, Herrell’s kitchen manager. “They were fun to recreate, and we can’t wait for our customers to try them.”

Added owner Judy Herrell, “the UMass Food Science Department Ice Cream Competition is a fun way to learn food chemistry, and Herrell’s feels grateful and thrilled to be a partner in the project. Congratulations to the five teams from the University of Massachusetts and their creative, fun, delicious flavors.”

NORTHAMPTON — Through the entire month of February, Herrell’s Ice Cream is asking customers to join in its annual What’s Your Flavor Idea? contest. This contest runs in both Herrell’s Ice Cream locations: 83 Cowls Road (Mill District), North Amherst, and 8 Old South St. (Thornes Marketplace), Northampton.

According to owner Judy Herrell, “one winner will be chosen from each location, and Herrell’s will make their ice cream concept. We hope people will get their creative juices flowing and come up with some new and unique ideas.”

To enter, customers may come into either Herrell’s store and fill out an entry slip and put it in the box (only one idea per entry slip). The winning flavor ideas will win a pint of their ice cream, a quartet of Herrell’s Hot Fudge, a Herrell’s T-shirt, and, of course, bragging rights.

“I’m anxious to see the innovative flavor combinations suggested to create new and exciting trends,” said Rose Ritter, Herrell’s kitchen manager. “We really love it when our community engages with us to make flavor history.”

NORTHAMPTON — Herrell’s Ice Cream of Thornes Marketplace in Northampton and the Mill District in Amherst is being honored as a winner of the City Beat News 2025 Spectrum Award for Service Excellence.

According to City Beat News, Herrell’s provides consistently great service and places great service as a top priority of its business, earning the highest annual rating for service by the Spectrum Award. Annually, out of the thousands of businesses that City Beat News researches, only a very small percentage performs to the level Herrell’s has reached. This is the second year Herrell’s has received a Spectrum Award from City Beat News.

“Herrell’s is honored to receive such a wonderful award,” said Judy Herrell, president of Herrell’s Ice Cream Corp. “We place customer service equally as high as the ingredients we use and the manufacturing of our ice cream. Our mission statement is ‘to offer the best, unique, and inspired ice creams, frozen desserts, and concoctions to satisfy all ages and flavor palates, using the finest ingredients and methods, served with smiles and bears.’ Our staff’s passion and compassion in their customer service is unsurpassed.”

NORTHAMPTON — Herrell’s Ice Cream introduced four new UMass flavors to its rotating ice cream collection: the winners of the 2024 Ice Cream Competition. The first place winner is Brown Butter Miso Caramel, second place is Tea Time, third place is Apple Kruimel ijsje, and Pineapple Upside-Down Cheesecake won the People’s Choice Award.

These flavors will be sold in both Amherst and Northampton Herrell’s Ice Cream locations beginning May 30.

“All of these flavors are absolutely delicious,” said Judy Herrell, owner of Herrell’s. “They are imaginative and creative: all winners.”

Herrell and former Herrell’s Manager Kirsten Tabb worked with students throughout the spring 2024 semester to help them understand the intricacies of creating flavors. “In some cases, parts of teams’ flavor profiles did not exist, and they had to make something new,” Herrell said. “For example, some of the teams learned how to make variegates (swirls) for their ice creams.”

The criteria for the judging included texture, overrun, sustainability, olfactory, and taste. Charmaine Koo, UMass lecturer and professor for the class, believes as Herrell does: this is a great way to learn science.

NORTHAMPTON — Alignable, the largest online networking platform for small businesses, announced that Judy Herrell of Herrell’s Ice Cream has been elected as Northampton’s 2025 Business Person of the Year.

Alignable’s 2025 Local Business Person of the Year contest logged more than 333,000 votes, 77,000 recommendations, and 4,750 winners across the U.S. and Canada.

The largest online networking platform for business owners, alignable.com invited its more than 9 million members to shout out local business leaders who have gone above and beyond guiding peers and supporting entire communities amid challenging economic conditions.

The 2025 contest was Alignable’s most popular competition in more than six years, with participation surging 20% compared to 2024.

During the 2025 contest, held from Jan. 14 to March 7, 4,750 business owners — spanning more than 4,500 communities — were recognized as winners, including ties. These leaders were honored for their dedication to supporting their peers and communities amid a year of economic challenges.

“In our local business community, we look out for each other and refer businesses down the street or around the corner to help make everyone in town as successful as possible,” Herrell said. “The challenges we’ve all encountered have compelled many of us to offer counsel to peers fighting to keep their businesses afloat. While I’m thrilled to receive this award, it’s really a testament to our entire community.”

NORTHAMPTON — Through March 1, Herrell’s Ice Cream is asking customers to join in its “What’s Your Flavor Idea?” contest. This contest will run in both the 83 Cowls Road, North Amherst, and 8 Old South St., Northampton locations.

According to owner Judy Herrell, “one winner will be chosen from each location on March 1, and Herrell’s will make their ice-cream concept.”

To enter, all a customer must do is come into Herrell’s, fill out an entry slip, and put it in the box (only one idea per entry slip). The winning flavor ideas will win a quartet (four jars) of Herrell’s Hot Fudge, a Herrell’s T-shirt, and bragging rights.

“I can’t wait to see the innovative local genius flavors suggested to create new and exciting trends,” said Rose Ritter, Herrell’s kitchen and ice-cream production manager. “We really love our community engaging with us to make flavor history.”

NORTHAMPTON — The Spectrum Awards, presented by City Beat News, announced that Herrell’s Ice Cream in Northampton is the winner of this year’s Spectrum Award, which recognizes businesses that promote excellence and go above and beyond to provide exceptional customer service.

“I am humbled and honored and very excited for Herrell’s Ice Cream to be recognized,” said Judy Herrell, president of Herrell’s Ice Cream. “Receiving this award is an amazing testament to our fantastic staff who truly go above and beyond for our customers.”

AMHERST — The Mill District and Herrell’s Ice Cream announced that Herrell’s Ice Cream will be opening soon in the Mill District in North Square in North Amherst on Monday, Aug. 26 at noon. Herrell’s hours will be noon to 9 p.m. daily.

The Mill District in North Square is located just a crosswalk away from Amherst’s busy Mill River Recreation Area, a short walk from Cherry Hill Golf Course, and near the recently renovated North Amherst Library. Herrell’s joins Provisions, Carefree Cakery, the General Store, the Closet, the Mill District Art Gallery, Soulful Pet Studios, and 3 Amigos restaurant, to name a few that are already making a mark on North Amherst’s busy shopping and dining offerings.

“This popup location will remain until our new full location is built. The popup will serve cones and cups, sundaes, and soda drinks. Since the space is so small, other menu items will not appear until the full store is built out,” owner Judy Herrell said. “However, we will have a similar count of flavors as we have in Northampton. We expect it to be a delicious place to eat ice cream and frozen desserts of all kinds. Plus, a cool place to work and shop for all — puns intended.”

AMHERST — The Mill District and Herrell’s Ice Cream announced that Herrell’s Ice Cream will be opening soon in the Mill District’s North Square in North Amherst, first as a pop-up and later as a permanent location.

The Mill District’s North Square is located just a crosswalk away from Amherst’s busy Mill River Recreation Area, a short walk from Cherry Hill Golf Course, and near the recently renovated North Amherst Library. Herrell’s will join Provisions, Carefree Cakery, the Mill District General Store, the Closet, the Mill District Local Art Gallery, Soulful Pet Studios, Futura Coffee; 3 Amigo’s Restaurant; the Lift Salon; Big Basket International Market; Amherst House of Pizza, and Cowls Building Supply, to name a few enterprises already making a mark on North Amherst’s busy shopping and dining offerings.

“We’re building out an impressive ice-cream parlor between our beloved Carefree Cakery and Provisions fine foods and spirits,” said Arthur Haskins, Cowls’ real estate vice president.  “In the meantime, Herrell’s is popping up in the former Graze Craze space between the General Store and the Closet and Soulful Pet Studios at 83 Cowls Road.”

Added Herrell’s owner Judy Herrell, “we are thrilled about opening a pop-up location in the Mill District’s North Square in North Amherst because it has the mix of restaurant and retail, and we were looking for to expand. We expect it to be a delicious place to eat ice cream and frozen desserts of all kinds, plus a cool place to work and shop for all — pun intended.”

NORTHAMPTON — On March 4, the website obitshighway.com published an article wrongly claiming that Steve Herrell, founder of Steve’s Ice Cream and Herrell’s Ice Cream, had died. Another site, indianhausa.com, picked up the story on March 5.

Judy Herrell, president and CEO of Herrell’s Ice Cream, publicly announced that the reports are not true. “Steve Herrell is in good health, active, and will be celebrating his 80th birthday on April 2,” she said. “It is believed that these websites, where these obits were published, are phishing sites and are attempting to increase their online traffic.”

NORTHAMPTON — The week of Jan. 21-28, Herrell’s Ice Cream in Northampton will celebrate its annual Margaritaville.

Some of the flavors being served this year will be winning flavors from the UMass ice-cream-making competition from the last several years. These flavors have become popular rotating flavors at Herrell’s and are often served during summer months. According to Judy Herrell, “they are the perfect addition to our Margaritaville offerings.”

The Margaritaville flavors this year will include Berry Tequila Tango (UMass), Mango Sorbet, Mango Ice Cream, Coconut Chocolate Chip, Piña Colada, Aloha Sunrise, Key Lime Cream, Sublime (UMass), Strawberry Banana, and Spicy Pineapple Margarita (UMass).