Popular ice cream manufacturer Totally Cool Ice Creams has gone out of business after selling all its assets. The company filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2024 as it had to halt production and recall its products. The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found Listeria monocytogenes contamination in the products.
Highlights
- In June 2024, Listeria monocytogenes contamination was found in Totally Cool ice cream products.
- The company recalled the products and filed for bankruptcy protection in August 2024.
- In March 2025, the company exited bankruptcy by selling all assets and shutting down.
Totally Cool Shutdown Amid Bankruptcy
Totally Cool was an ice cream manufacturer that sold its assets for $650,000 to exit bankruptcy. The products made by the company in Owings Mills, Maryland, were used and sold by various brands. For instance, Friendly’s, Hershey’s Ice Cream, Abilyn’s Frozen Bakery, Jeni’s, and ChipWich were the customers for Totally Cool.
Totally Cool filed for Chapter 11 bankruptcy protection in August 2024. By then, the company had already stopped its production and recalled the products. The petition filed by the company listed $2 million worth of assets and $1.4 million of debt.
In 2024, the products were found to have microbial contamination. Falling revenues now stopped as the products were recalled and production stopped. The company could not operate before fixing issues. There were not enough funds for that, so in March 2025, Totally Cool reached an agreement to sell the assets and shut down.
What Did the FDA Order For This Popular Ice Cream Brand?
The U.S. Food and Drug Administration (FDA) found Listera monocytogenes in samples of Totally Cool’s products in 2024. The brand was immediately ordered to recall its 69 ice cream products across various associated brands. Operations of the company ceased, and 68 employees were laid off.
Listeria monocytogenes is a pathogenic microbe. It can lead to fatal infections, especially in young children, the elderly, and people with a weak immune system.
If anyone is affected by it, they observe symptoms such as high fever, stiffness, and diarrhea. It was fortunate that no cases of illness were reported due to contaminated products. FDA prohibited the company and its CEO from directly or indirectly receiving, preparing, processing, packing, holding, and/or distributing any article of food.
As the company was not in a condition to fix the issues and meet certain food safety standards, it reached a settlement with the FDA. All the food processing and preparation operations stand still for Totally Cool.
The ice cream industry has been struggling to earn revenues since the 2020 pandemic. Various restaurant chains serving ice cream desserts have filed for bankruptcy and gone out of business since then. Even the big names, such as Friendly’s and Oberweis Ice Cream, could not be spared from falling industry dynamics.
