GILROY
– It seems the idea of garlic ice cream leaves a bad taste in
the mouths of most non-Gilroyans.
By Lori Stuenkel

GILROY – It seems the idea of garlic ice cream leaves a bad taste in the mouths of most non-Gilroyans.

Those sounding off via the poll, “Which ice cream flavor sounds the worst?” on an America Online parenting page Friday overwhelmingly selected garlic as their least favorite pick.

At 3 p.m., the stinking rose was leading the pack of detestable dessert flavors with 89 percent of the votes. Iced tea with ginseng and sweet potato pie were the closest competitors, each carrying 5 percent of the votes.

Cranberry lagged behind with a mere 1 percent of votes. So far, 137,101 people were participating in the survey.

Were the poll conducted in Garlic Town, the results would likely be the opposite.

Garlic World, located south of Gilroy on Monterey Highway, fulfills the high demand for the product year-round.

“It’s one of the biggest sellers,” said Julie Nelson, office manager of the Monterey Highway store.

“People are just fascinated with the fact that there’s garlic ice cream out there,” she said.

The ice cream is also a favorite at Garlic Festival Store.

“We can’t keep it in the store,” said Lori Turnipseed, a customer service representative at the store, also located on Monterey Highway.

Most who shop at Gilroy’s garlic stores and purchase the ice cream have never tried it before.

“They have heard about it, and they are willing to try it,” Nelson said. “Most people leave here liking it.”

At Garlic Festival Foods, Turnipseed estimated that half of those who buy the ice cream have never tried it.

“It’s a novelty item, then they like it,” she said.

The store sells close to 100 of the 8-oz. cups of ice cream each week, available in vanilla and chocolate varieties for $1.

Of those who try the ice cream after purchasing it, only “a few don’t like it,” Turnipseed said.

Garlic World also carries vanilla and chocolate. Customers purchase between 100 and 120 of the 5-ounce cups per week. Both varieties, available for $1, sell equal amounts, Nelson said.

Garlic lovers consumed 340 gallons of Gilroy Foods’ garlic-vanilla ice cream over three days at the Garlic Festival this year. Gilroy Foods does not sell the ice cream during the rest of the year, but distributes the festival cones each year.

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