Van Leeuwen Ice Cream

Van Leeuwen Ice Cream is an American ice cream parlor chain.

Van Leeuwen

Van Leeuwen branch in the Adams Morgan neighborhood of Washington, D.C.
Founded	2008 (2008) in New York City
Founders	Pete Van Leeuwen Ben Van Leeuwen Laura O'Neill
Website	vanleeuwenicecream.com

History

Van Leeuwen began as a food truck in New York City in 2008 between Pete Van Leeuwen, his brother Ben, and their Australian partner Laura O'Neill. The trio were seeking to make a “purer ice cream”. ^[1] Their yellow trucks sold flavors based on imported ingredients like Ceylon cinnamon, Sicilian pistachios, and vanilla from Papua New Guinea.^[2] The American private equity firm Nextworld invested $18.7 million in the company in 2020. Van Leeuwen opened their 30th store in 2022 and has over 70 stores as of December 2024^[update].^[3][4]

In November 2022, Van Leeuwen entered a settlement agreement with the New York City Department of Consumer and Worker Protection. The chain agreed to comply with a New York City law that banned retail stores from refusing to accept cash as payment and to pay $33,000 in outstanding civil penalties. Van Leeuwen had been violating the law since it went into effect in November 2020 and did not appear for any administrative hearings.^[5]