SIU Graduate invents Dippin’ Dots® and changes the frozen treat industry forever
Curt Jones and his family started and built the first beaded ice cream business - Dippin’ Dots®. Before inventing and launching Dippin’ Dots®, Curt earned his B.A. and M.A. in Microbiology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. Curt went to work for Alltech Biotechnology Company in Nicholasville, KY where he helped the company pioneer their early work of using “live/freeze dried” Lactobacillus bacteria a/k/a “probiotics” in their new all-natural animal feeds. It was here that Curt developed a new way to freeze the bacteria into pellets using liquid nitrogen. He then applied this methodology to freezing his favorite dessert – ice cream. Curt’s Daughter, Tracey, was only 5 years old when he and his wife, Kay, opened the first Dippin’ Dots® store in Lexington, KY in 1988. Curt and his family grew Dippin’ Dots® into a $50M business before selling the business in 2012.
Curt and his daughter decided to start 40 Below Company in 2016 selling frozen beads of coffee and since then have transformed the business to “almost anything beaded” now serving all of the favorite treats they developed during the Dippin’ Dots days (Cookies ‘n’ Cream, Cookie Dough, Banana Split, etc). 40 Below also sells products containing fruit and high protein whey. They have even started a line of beads called Island Rox®; frozen fruit beads that are used to produce the world’s greatest frozen margaritas, strawberry daiquiris, and piña coladas.
While founding his latest venture, Curt decided to once again bring opportunity to the place he grew up - Southern Illinois.
40 Below Company is a research and brand development company, as well as a manufacturer, located at the Dunn-Richmond Center on the campus of Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. 40 Below has developed several brands; 40 Below Joe™, 40 Below Desserts™, Island Rox®, The Fruity Whey™, and Whey to Go™. These five similar, but very different products, are all cryogenically frozen and are comparable in appearance to Dippin’ Dots®.
40 Below plans to be a global leader in the beaded frozen dessert and drinks industry while creating jobs and building the economy of southern Illinois. 40 Below sources the most natural ingredients and then freezes and packages its frozen beaded products into cups and pouches. 40 Below distributes to major theme/amusement parks, water parks, fairs, festivals, family entertainment centers, stadiums, museums, bowling alleys, coffee shops, candy shops, grocery stores, convenience stores, hospitals, universities, and any other venue that is looking for high quality beaded products. 40 Below will continue to function as a Business-to-Business distribution model but will also sell the product via its impressive online store and a dry ice shipping process that allows the company to ship orders directly to consumers in 48 states from Carbondale, Illinois.
Curt and Tracey are excited to launch their line of 40 Below products on the SIU Saluki Marketplace. Growing up on a farm 45 miles south of the University, Curt would like to see 40 Below products exported to the rest of America and eventually around the globe like Dippin’ Dots®.
Curt Jones and his family started and built the first beaded ice cream business - Dippin’ Dots®. Before inventing and launching Dippin’ Dots®, Curt earned his B.A. and M.A. in Microbiology at Southern Illinois University in Carbondale, IL. With Curt’s research and development background, he invented a new way to freeze his favorite dessert into tiny beads, and grew Dippin’ Dots® into a $50M business before selling the business in 2012.
Curt, and his daughter Tracey, decided to start 40 Below Company in 2016 and now serve all of the favorite treats they developed during the Dippin’ Dots days, and then some. 40 Below takes classic food and beverage items and elevates them into unique, novelty snacks using cryogenic technology. Brands include frozen beaded coffees, desserts, fruits & cocktail mixers!
40 Below Company is a research and brand development company, as well as a manufacturer, located on the campus of SIU. 40 Below plans to be a global leader in the beaded frozen dessert and drinks industry while creating jobs and building the economy of Southern Illinois.
Curt and Tracey are excited to launch their line of 40 Below products on the SIU Saluki Marketplace. Growing up on a farm 45 miles south of the University, Curt would like to see 40 Below products exported to the rest of America and eventually around the globe like Dippin’ Dots®.