LOS ANGELES--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Sanrio®, the global lifestyle brand best known for Hello Kitty®, has partnered with Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, the NYC born and nationally beloved ice cream brand known for its made-from-scratch dairy and vegan ice cream, to introduce a Hello Kitty 50th Anniversary flavor on National Ice Cream Day on Sunday July 21. For one day only, in celebration of Hello Kitty’s milestone year, pints of the special Yummy Berry White Chocolate Truffle Ice Cream will be available to purchase nationwide at Van Leeuwen scoop shops.
The Van Leeuwen x Hello Kitty flavor blends white chocolate ice cream with swirls of sweet red raspberry jam (a nod to Hello Kitty’s famous red bow) and chunks of truffle brownies. To underscore Hello Kitty’s positive message of friendship and kindness, and Van Leeuwen’s mission to make you feel good, the companies will be donating 50 percent of the profits to kindness.org, a nonprofit on a mission to educate and inspire people to choose kindness.
“With this super sweet collaboration, we want to bring smiles to everyone’s faces and create a special moment for fans across the U.S. to join in on Hello Kitty’s anniversary fun,” said Craig Takiguchi, Chief Operating Officer of Sanrio, Inc. “To surprise and delight our fans we are offering them memorable partnerships and experiences throughout the year to celebrate this milestone.”
Van Leeuwen and Sanrio will also host a pop-up event at the Van Leeuwen Tribeca shop (310 Greenwich St, New York, NY 10013) on National Ice Cream Day to celebrate the delicious flavor and show appreciation for Hello Kitty’s devoted fans. The pop-up will feature the flavor by the scoops as well as Hello Kitty-themed sundaes and shakes, plus limited quantities of commemorative merch including friendship bracelets from value-aligned partner Little Words Project, the original word bracelet known for its commitment to building a community of kindness.
"We’re excited to do something extra special for National Ice Cream Day with global icon Hello Kitty. This is our cutest flavor yet!” said Ben Van Leeuwen, Van Leeuwen Ice Cream Co-Founder and CEO.
"We at kindness.org are thrilled to partner with Van Leeuwen Ice Cream and Sanrio in celebrating Hello Kitty's 50th anniversary on National Ice Cream Day. This collaboration is a wonderful opportunity to spread joy while supporting our mission to educate and inspire people to choose kindness. We're excited to bring smiles to faces across the U.S. and create special moments for Hello Kitty fans everywhere," said Jaclyn Lindsey, Co-founder & CEO of kindness.org.
To stay in the loop on all of the anniversary fun, visit Hello Kitty’s 50th anniversary site here, and follow @sanrio on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok and Pinterest. Follow @hellokitty on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and subscribe to the Hello Kitty and Friends YouTube Channel. For updates on National Ice Cream Day at Van Leeuwen, follow @vanleeuwenicecream on Instagram.
About Sanrio®:
Sanrio® is the global lifestyle brand best known for Hello Kitty® who was created in 1974, and home to many other beloved character brands such as My Melody™, Kuromi™, LittleTwinStars™, Cinnamoroll™, Pompompurin™, gudetama™, Aggretsuko™, Chococat™, Badtz-maru™ and Keroppi™. Sanrio was founded on the philosophy that a small gift can bring happiness and friendship to people of all ages. Since 1960, this philosophy has served as the inspiration to offer quality products, services and activities that promote communication and inspire unique consumer experiences across the world. Today, Sanrio’s business extends into the entertainment industry with several content series, gaming offerings and theme parks. Sanrio boasts an extensive product lineup which is available in over 130 countries. Sanrio hopes to bring smiles to everyone’s faces with their vision of “One World, Connecting Smiles.” To learn more about Sanrio, please visit www.sanrio.com and follow @sanrio and @hellokitty on Facebook, Instagram, Twitter, TikTok, Pinterest and subscribe to the Hello Kitty and Friends YouTube Channel.
About Van Leeuwen Ice Cream:
Van Leeuwen began as a yellow scoop truck on the streets of NYC in 2008 by Ben Van Leeuwen, Pete Van Leeuwen and Laura O’Neill, who were on a mission to make good ice cream from good ingredients that makes you feel good. Their French-style ice cream (made with more than double the amount of egg yolks as standard ice cream) quickly gained a loyal following. Van Leeuwen has since expanded and has over 50 scoop shops in New York, California, New Jersey, Pennsylvania, DC, Colorado, Connecticut, Massachusetts and Texas. Van Leeuwen also recently opened their first international scoop shop in Singapore. Pints, ice cream bars and ice cream sandwiches are available in grocery stores across the country and to order for nationwide shipping from their website. To keep up with everything Van Leeuwen Ice Cream, follow the brand on Instagram @vanleeuwenicecream or visit www.vanleeuwenicecream.com.
About kindness.org:
kindness.org believes that kindness is humanity's greatest asset and is on a mission to educate and inspire people to choose kindness. To do this, they conduct scientific research to create products that help people measurably build a kinder world. Through their research hub, Kindlab, they investigate the costs and benefits of kindness and the role it can play in solving modern problems. Using these learnings, they create action-based products and programs to bring effective kindness to schools, communities, and workplaces around the world. Everything they do is towards a vision of a world where kindness is at the forefront of human interaction. To choose kindness now, visit their Get Started page.
