Last updated on October 18th, 2024
Lux Ice, a provider of premium craft ice, is making waves in the beverage industry with its unique product offerings and commitment to quality. Founded in 2020, the company has expanded its reach across the United States, partnering with major retailers and foodservice establishments.
CEO Michael Crouse recently shared the company’s journey and its mission to revolutionize the craft ice market with The Shelby Report of the Southwest.
According to Crouse, company founder Shawn Kilcoyne recognized the growing demand for high-quality, artisanal beverages and saw an opportunity to bring the craft ice experience into homes and businesses.
“Americans love their beverages and elevating their beverages,” Crouse said.
By partnering with major retailers such as Wegmans and Total Wine & More, the company was able to establish a strong foothold in the industry and showcase the benefits of its product.
Lux Ice changed its packaging from a 24-pack for foodservice to a six-pack, gusseted bottom bag with a resealable top for grocery retailers. The company, then based in Philadelphia, started delivering to grocery stores in the eastern Pennsylvania area and into New Jersey.
“Typical to a small startup story where the founder has big dreams but limited resources, he was looking for investors, and the investors came in the form of Texans, specifically former Frito-Lay division of PepsiCo executives, one of whom was asked to help with the business plan,” Crouse said. “He wrote such a wonderful business plan that he invested in it and picked up the company and brought it here to Flower Mound, Texas, last spring.”
In its new location, the company built at 45,000-square-foot craft ice facility.
Lux Ice’s commitment to quality is evident in its proprietary production process. Unlike traditional craft ice manufacturers, the company utilizes a food-safe method that ensures the highest standards of purity and clarity. This innovative approach sets Lux Ice apart from competitors and is accredited food safe by the International Packaged Ice Association.
More than just ice
Beyond its innovative product, Lux Ice is dedicated to making a positive impact on the community. The company has partnered with The Storehouse, a local nonprofit, to provide English language training and job opportunities to legal immigrants in the area. 
Crouse said about three years ago The Storehouse launched an academy program, basically a Saturday school, teaching English.
“The people who were using The Storehouse – predominantly [legal] immigrants from South and Central America – brought wonderful vocational backgrounds, but their No. 1 barrier to finding employment in their vocations of choice was their inability to speak English.”
As it became apparent that speaking a new language for more than a few hours one day a week was needed, Lux Ice became the first corporate partner of The Storehouse’s Academy program.
“All of our ice crafters who make our product here in Flower Mound every day come through that partnership,” Crouse said.
The company pays them a living wage with benefits, and “in return we have the most unbelievably engaged team members who are enthusiastic and passionate about the company and help us win every day.”
He noted that Lux Ice hires them with the idea not to retain, as the goal is to have them learn English and then go on to other jobs.
“Here at our facility, as we speak, on the line are teachers, accountants, engineers. We have a medical doctor from Cuba who desperately wants to return to practicing medicine. And so that’s why we call it ‘Ice for Good.’ That’s our mission.
“We think we have an incredibly unique, great quality, convenient-for-consumer craft ice product that is earning its way on the shelves across the country. But the real heartbeat and purpose of our company is we built a decent-sized facility here to employ as many people as possible.”
Expanding reach, overcoming challenges
As Lux Ice continues to grow, it faces challenges in securing shelf space in retail stores and increasing consumer awareness.
Its product is in Publix stores throughout the Southeast and in Mid-Atlantic and Northeast retailers such as Giant, Weiss, ShopRite, Big Y, Market Basket and Hannaford Brothers. After moving to Texas, Lux Ice may now be found in Brookshire Grocery Co., Tom Thumb, Randalls, Kroger and H-E-B locations. It also has entered the Midwest in Hy-Vee and Schnucks stores.
Working with its partner Crossmark, Lux Ice is starting to open up West Coast retailers such as Save Mart, Lucky’s, Pavilions and Bristol Farms.
Crouse emphasized the importance of category co-creation and the need for retailers to recognize the value of innovative products like Lux Ice.
“We’re enjoying some rapid distribution growth, but we have a lot of retailers to go in terms of that, so that’s definitely a challenge,” he said. “And on the consumer side, it’s an equal challenge to drive awareness that then becomes trial in a category where many consumers don’t expect to see that – much less that it is a destination from a purchase cycle.”
He used the analogy of bottled water, when people “couldn’t wrap their heads around the fact that as consumers we would actually purchase something that we could easily access in our homes.”
According to Crouse, the intersection of quality and convenience means something to consumers. He cited the benefits of craft ice: slow melting due to the removal of oxygen and impurities, it doesn’t dilute the drink and is visually appealing. On the packaging side, he said the resealable top is important to avoid the ice picking up odors from other items in the freezer.
“It can sit next to the chicken wings or French fries and not take on that smell or taste,” Crouse said. “But if you are making [ice] at home, that’s what you’re doing.”
The packaging now includes the universal nutrition facts panel, which he said early iterations did not have because it was thought to be unnecessary.
“It’s just filtered and purified water. But because the No. 1 question we were asked from a consumer perspective was what do you put in it to make it slow melt, now our packaging has the nutritional facts panel,” he said. “It could be the cleanest nutritional facts panel there is in the industry – zero, zero, zero all the way down. It’s filtered and purified water from the municipality of Flower Mound, but it’s beautifully crisp and clear and tastes like nothing.”
Crouse also expressed his belief that the frozen section in grocery needs innovation, adding that there are not a lot of “new” categories in frozen food in the U.S.
He said as Lux Ice is presented to retailers, officials emphasize that the “crystal clear, round sphere” is one of many shapes the company can make. Lux Ice offers cubed ice through the foodservice side of the business.
He noted Lux Ice products can be found in a number of national restaurants, such as Maggiano’s Little Italy, J. Alexanders and Fleming’s Prime Steakhouse.
