Clumpies ice cream company based in Chattanooga is planning to expand this summer, including new stores in Hixson and Birmingham, increased wholesale business and an expansion of its leadership team.

Founded in 1999 by the son of a third generation candy maker, Clumpies creates premium gourmet ice creams known throughout the Southeast for their uniqueness and flavor, officials said.

"The secret is our microbatch process," said Clumpies President Hal Bowling from the company's flagship store on Frazier Avenue. "What microbreweries are for beer, Clumpies is for ice cream – only family-friendly."

The company's ice cream chefs make each flavor in batches of no more than 10 gallons, "ensuring the best quality products as well as a process that whips in less air than other ice creams, so the texture is always smooth and creamy. Sixteen percent butterfat, compared to most ice creams which have only twelve to fourteen percent, means that Clumpies ice creams are more cream than ice," it was stated.

"Clumpies is well known as the best ice cream in Chattanooga, and all over the Southeast," said Mr. Bowling. "We felt it was time to get the word out even more; we are growing fast, but it's not just growth that matters. From its founding, Clumpies has been built on the idea that ice cream makes the world a better place, bringing families and communities together around something that is fun and flavorful."

Since joining the company six months ago, Mr. Bowling and company founder Marshall Brock have developed growth strategies around this core principle, which they are now beginning to put into play.

Next month, Clumpies will open satellite stores in Hixson and Birmingham. The Hixson store is located next to the new Best Buy, in an area that Mr. Bowling describes as "a great, new growth area in Chattanooga." The Birmingham store is in Crestline Village in the heart of the Mountain Brook community.

To position for these changes, the company has added key personnel including Mr. Bowling, brought on to direct the company's next phase of growth; Anthony Tucker, who oversees retail operations; Carl Ware, who supervises ice cream production; and Jason Hamill, who is managing the Chattanooga retail stores.

Clumpies has also moved production of its ice creams from the Frazier Avenue store to a factory space on Chattanooga's Southside. The factory is dedicated not only to microbatch production, but is also a development site for unique products including ice cream pies and homemade cookie ice cream sandwiches. The factory also services Clumpies' growing wholesale customer base, which in addition to most of the white tablecloth restaurants in Chattanooga includes newly formed partnerships with Rock City and Ruby Falls.