Cockeye Creamery manufacturing plant churns into operation
WARREN — Max Hoover, chief financial officer for Cockeye Creamery and plant manager for Edward Joseph Group, said Thursday’s open house at the company’s new manufacturing plant at 387 Chestnut Ave. was a way to express its commitment to the community.
“I just wanted to announce to the world that we’re doing this,” he said. “I want to show that we are building and investing into this town specifically and creating jobs and manufacturing products from scratch … For me, I always framed the event as an open house because I wanted to show people that this can be done and is being done in their backyard.”
The Hoover family, owners of Cockeye BBQ and Creamery at 1805 Parkman Road, told those walking through the newly renovated 20,000-square-foot dairy production plant that the facility has begun full production and that growth is expected to continue.
“We built this facility to expand our ice cream production and set the basis for future Cockeye Creamery outlets and retail sales,” Max Hoover said.
A NEW SPACE
Max Hoover said the company produced about 10,000 gallons of ice cream out of its “tiny little building” on Parkman Road in 2023. He said production in the new plant will increase as it goes from three current full-time employees to 20 over the next several years.
The Hoovers have been working on transforming the building into a dairy production plant for about two years. Previously, the Chestnut Avenue building was home to Color 3 Embroidery, another Warren-based company that has since moved to a larger location at 2927 Mahoning Ave.
“There’s been at least a full year of construction, this plant was nothing like it is today,” Max Hoover said. “We put about $250,000 of equipment and capital improvements into the building and then we also bought the building. So, the total cost of the project was pretty big.”
While the Cockeye Creamery location on Parkman Road will no longer serve as a manufacturing location, it will continue to serve its products alongside the barbeque restaurant.
As Cockeye Creamery continues to expand its retail sales — its ice cream is currently available in several Mahoning Valley grocery stores as well as a few locations in Cleveland — Erik Hoover, founder of the barbeque and ice cream stores, said the company needed a “proper space” for its manufacturing wing.
“We love our crew, but you’ve got the teeny boppers coming in with their phones and the dirty shoes and the hair, we needed a secluded, sanitary space to manufacture large volumes,” he said. “We cannot have a mess up. This gives me a lot more peace of mind and there’s space to grow beyond that.”
Max Hoover said the ice cream production moved out of the walk-in freezer at the Parkman Road location and into the Chestnut Avenue factory in mid-January.
He said the main challenges with the move have been transitioning the previous manufacturing process into one on a much larger scale.
“There was about a week of time where we were motionless and swaying without a production arm,” Max Hoover said. “It was a roll of the dice whether we (could) get this thing working and produce and ship it back to ourselves. Luckily, it’s working.”
A SHARED SPACE
The Chestnut Avenue facility will not only be home to Cockeye BBQ and Creamery’s manufacturing arm but also the headquarters of Youngstown Coffee Company.
Tony Bellatto, president of Youngstown Coffee Company, said the business originally operated out of the back of the Havana House in Boardman, which his father owns. He said the coffee company grew out of that space “very quickly.”
“We were stuck, we were basically getting kicked out of Boardman Plaza because we were too big and roasting coffee smells, people were complaining,” Bellatto said. “Luckily, Erik swooped in and saved the day and his family. I’m proud to be family friends with them.”
Youngstown Coffee Company products are available in Giant Eagle stores in Liberty, Niles and Calcutta of Columbiana County.
“I’m a huge fan of collaborating in the community,” Bellatto said. “Erik and I brought that up, that rising tides brings up all ships and the more that we can work together as a business community, I think, the better it is.”
CONTINUED GROWTH
During the presentation, Ben Hoover, chief operations officer for the company, announced that the family will be adding another restaurant to its repertoire.
He said there are plans to open a new project called Franky’s Pizzeria and Delicatessen at the corner of N Park Avenue and Scott Street in Warren’s garden district in September.
Ben Hoover said the building was purchased in June through Trumbull Neighborhood Partnership.
“I’ve been managing the kitchen at Cockeye for about the last four years and have been cooking on this in my back pocket for the last two years,” he said.
Though part of the family restaurant group, the pizzeria will not be under the “Cockeye” brand.
Ben Hoover said he went to the Culinary Institute of America in New York and fell in love with New York-style pizzerias. He said the restaurant will specialize in Sicilian-style pizza.
“That’s what I’m passionate about, bringing a sort of high level of interest and love to a product but making it very accessible to people,” he said. “That’s why we sell barbeque, why we sell pizza, why we sell ice cream, it’s fun. It’s comfort food.”