Lucuma is a fruit that grows high above sea level in Peru, Chile and Ecuador. Its bright yellow flesh is used in many desserts in South America, but it’s not widely known in the U.S.
Anthony Rendic of Atlanta hopes to change that.
Rendic, 30, was born in Miami, the son of parents born and raised in Chile, and he traveled there throughout his childhood. That’s where he enjoyed sweets made with lucuma. The family moved to Atlanta when he was in second grade.
He became a chef, learning recipe development and how to run kitchens, but he and his wife, Hannah, knew they wanted to start their own food business.
“I was seeing super fruits like acai berries become more and more popular, and lucuma has the same reputation as a super fruit, but not the recognition,” Rendic said. “Ice cream is the No. 1 use of lucuma in Chile, and I realized ice cream would be a low-cost way to get my foot in the door here.”
He and Hannah opened Loco 4 Lucuma, a premium ice cream business, in October 2022.
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
Rendic started his recipe development at home, making dozens of pints in a Cuisinart ice cream maker when he was working as a sous chef at Beetlecat.
“More sugar, less cream, more fruit. I’d play with the recipe, then take the results to my job and have the servers and cooks taste it,” he said. “I got such positive feedback. They thought the flavor was interesting and liked that it was different.
“When I settled on a recipe, it was time to go with it. If my coworkers liked it, I knew other people would, too.”
The couple had to be certain they could get enough fruit from Peru, which exports 90% of the world’s supply of lucuma. They found a Peruvian food distribution company that could provide the 100 pounds of fruit they would need every six weeks, enough to make 600 pints.
With the recipe and fruit supply settled, they knew they wanted to incorporate the lucuma story into their packaging, so they designed a black label with golden mountains to play off the idea of lucuma being “the gold of the Incas.”
Credit: Handout
Credit: Handout
They purchased a commercial ice cream machine that could churn out seven pints in 15 minutes, and Anthony Rendic went to work.
His years in the food industry helped him plan the best way to package his ice cream for restaurant wholesale clients, including the Freakin Incan in Roswell, Sabor Inka in Lawrenceville and the City Cellar and Loft in Cartersville.
“It’s easier for the cooks to work with a half-gallon container,” he said. “It’s easier to scoop. They can use all the ice cream quickly, so it’s not sitting in the freezer getting ice burn.”
Loco 4 Lucuma offers the ice cream in pints for home use, and it’s sold at Buckhead Butcher Shop and Paul’s Pot Pies in Marietta, as well as the Vinings, Acworth and Marietta Square farmers markets.
The business also offers nationwide shipping. “A lot of people order ice cream not only for themselves but as a unique gift,” Rendic said. “Repeat customers are how we are keep going. People will buy four or six pints at a time.
“A lot of people take a vacation in Peru, and when they see our booth at the markets, they say, ‘I had lucuma ice cream in Peru last month. I can’t believe this is here!’ People from Peru remark on how good our ice cream tastes. That’s because we make it with real fruit, not lucuma extract or essence.”
Rendic has a day job at Buckhead Butcher Shop, so he’s in his commercial kitchen in Kennesaw at 6 a.m., churning ice cream, then heads to Buckhead for his 11 a.m. starting time.
Loco 4 Lucuma produces seven dairy-based and two vegan flavors. Each starts with the lucuma base, and then Rendic adds nuts, cookies, chocolate chips or other fruits, such as passion fruit or berries.
“We are always considering other flavors,” he said, “and I’m getting a lot of requests for a no-sugar version, so I’m considering making a flavor sweetened with dates.”
An ice cream shop is not in their plans, but ultimately, they would like to have retail distribution across the country.
“I would really like lucuma to become the next taco or acai bowl,” Rendic said. “When I was a teenager, acai bowls were unheard of. Now, they are everywhere. I think lucuma can be like that.”
Loco 4 Lucuma. 404-729-5427, loco4lucumaicecream.com
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