As the front gates open and the Olympic Trial crowd floods in, free ice cream samples fly off the tray in front of the Coconut Bliss Tent.
Luna and Larry’s Organic Coconut Bliss Ice Cream@@http://www.coconutbliss.com/@@ is a company that originated in Eugene. The tent is a way to spread the word about the product, and on top of giving out free samples, they are also giving out dollar-off coupons.
“A lot of people are here from out of town or even out of the country. It’s a lot of new exposure for our product,” said Michael Lavine,@@http://www.coconutbliss.com/about/who-we-are@@ a member of the sales department for Coconut Bliss.
It is the number-one selling nondairy ice cream in the country; however, many people don’t realize there are vegan ice cream options.
“Most of our customer base is in the natural foods world,” he said. “I think there might be a lot of people here who don’t necessarily buy natural foods.”
The employees at the tent want to change this by sparking the curiosity of people walking by and getting them to taste a sample and hopefully buy a scoop, ice cream bar or ice cream sandwich.
“Who doesn’t want to try free ice cream?” Jennifer Brady said after trying a sample. “It’s free of dairy, soy and gluten.”
Abby Hamaker and Emma Brady thought it tasted like most other ice creams.
“People seem incredibly surprised that our product is nondairy because it retains that rich, creamy texture that regular ice cream has,” Lavine said.
Four year-old Maeve Thomas was so excited for the ice cream that she snatched the bowl away from her older sister and hurried in the opposite direction.
“I love it!” Thomas exclaimed.
The stream of people continued to come, keeping Lavine and employee Chris Garrison busy handing out flyers and samples. Marie Roehich stood behind the counter scooping one of the eight flavors of ice cream into compostable bowls upon order.
“There’s people who are super excited we’re here and know who we are, and there’s other people who have never heard of us,” Roehich says.
Dana May from Portland has tried the ice cream several times before and made it one of her first stops upon entering the festival.
“It’s warm, and I wanted a snack that is good for me,” May said.
People started to get more and more interested in the ice cream stand as the sun came out. Around 1 p.m., a line trailed back from the counter.
“You can ask all of our fans to pray for sunshine for us for the rest of the trials,” Garrison said.