White Rabbit ice cream is a hit in Los Angeles
Shanghai-based candy manufacturer calls the flavor 'unauthorized'
by Jethro Kang March 5, 2019 in Food
Photo via Food & Wine.
An ice cream made with the famous Chinese candy White Rabbit has proven so popular in Los Angeles over the past Lunar New Year despite it being “unauthorized,” said the Shanghai-based sweets manufacturer.
Wanderlust Creamery in Los Angeles created the flavor with website Foodbeast using 1.3 pieces of the iconic candy in each scoop, including the edible paper wrap, which is mixed into a milk and butter base, said Wanderlust co-founder Jon-Patrick Lopez. The candy wrapper is also used around the cone.
The ice cream debuted over Chinese New Year and was originally planned as a special throughout February. Between February 1 and 20, Wanderlust sold 50 gallons of White Rabbit ice cream, then sold 50 more gallons in three days as news soon spread via Facebook, Instagram, and WeChat.
Wanderlust now plans to extend the offering to March, but they’re having difficulty sourcing the White Rabbit candy. Stock is not readily available, and rival ice cream makers are also creating White Rabbit flavors and competing for supply.
They might soon encounter yet another obstacle: White Rabbit manufacturer Guan Sheng Yuan, which has been making the candy since 1959, told Shanghai Morning Post that the product was created without authorization and the company has not “cooperated with any relevant parties.” Their US agent is currently investigating for possible brand infringement.
Yet China Daily reported that Guan Sheng Yuan was “inspired by the creation of the White Rabbit ice cream in the US.”
While Wanderlust has inspired copycats in the US as well as in Malaysia and the Philippines, they aren’t the first ice cream maker to dream up a White Rabbit flavor. Singapore dessert cafe Sunday Folks introduced a similar ice cream last November called Little White Rabbit.
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