Home Sweet Home: Nightingale Ice Cream Invests in Richmond Expansion

The Cream of the Crop

Husband-and-wife team Hannah Pollack and Xavier Meers established Nightingale Ice Cream in a Richmond restaurant kitchen in 2016. Meers is a classically trained Belgian chef who used to own a beloved Belgian restaurant in Richmond and introduced an ice cream sandwich as a dessert option at the now-closed Greenleaf's Pool Room. 

Nightingale Ice Cream manufactures specialty ice cream sandwiches made with 14% butterfat ice cream, freshly baked cookies that remain tender and soft even after being frozen, and house-made inclusions. What started as a small, handcrafted operation run by a team of two making 100 sandwiches a week quickly gained a loyal local following and became a Richmond staple. Today, the company employs more than 100 people and distributes to more than 5,500 grocery locations nationwide, including Whole Foods Market, Costco, Kroger, The Fresh Market, and Harris Teeter.

What began in the kitchen of a Richmond restaurant has grown into something beyond what we ever imagined. As we expand, our commitment to this community remains stronger than ever.

Hannah Pollack, CEO, President, and Co-Founder, Nightingale Ice Cream

We All Want Ice Cream

In January 2025, the Richmond business officially went nationwide when Kroger picked up the product in over 2,000 Kroger and Kroger-owned banners from coast to coast. Next, Target started distributing the product. The business with Kroger and Target grew the distribution locations by 190%, and overall production of the ice cream sandwiches grew 234% between 2024 and 2025. 

A company that started as a menu item at a restaurant made about $50,000 sales in its first year. Nightingale had its first million-dollar sales month in 2024 and recorded its first $3 million month in 2026. In 2024, newly available 18-packs of the company's signature Cookie Monster flavor sold out in less than a week at Costco. The Food Network called the company's sweet treats a "cult favorite"

Growing Where They Started

Nightingale is committed to providing the same high quality in their products while increasing production. The business has expanded within the Hatch commercial kitchen facility in Richmond and continues to support the Richmond community as it keeps up with demand from expansion of its retail footprint.

"We didn’t start with a business plan to build a national ice cream company," Pollack said. "We made a dessert that people loved, paid attention to their reaction and kept following the opportunity in front of us."

In 2026, the company is celebrating its 10-year anniversary and looking forward to what the next 10 years bring. As Nightingale Director of Brand Marketing Molly Szkotak Hugel said, “We’re so excited to be celebrating a decade of sweet success in Richmond as we scale to be a nationwide brand.”