71 IN HOT PURSUIT OF AN
ICE-COLD TREAT (PART 1 OF 2)

Leo Stefanos was born in Greece but moved to Chicago’s South Side where he opened a candy store. He named it Dove, which he chose for its “peaceful” quality. However,with three children, Michael, Chris and Amy, his life was often far from peaceful.

So perhaps it was no surprise that one day in 1956 the peace was shattered yet again. Michael, on spying an ice-cream truck going down the road outside the Stefanos’ house, threw open the door and went haring down the street in hot pursuit of an ice-cold treat.

Leo was horrified and worried for the safety of his children, so decided to do something about it. His solution was to make his own ice-cream, one that would be good enough to keep Michael, Chris and Amy in the safety of their own home.

Leo took months to refine the recipe and finally settled on an extra thick slice of a block of creamy vanilla ice-cream dipped into premium thick chocolate which he named the Dove Bar. It was an instant success not just with Leo’s children but all across Chicago; by the late 1970s over 1 million Dove Bars were being made every year.

In 1984 Mike Stefanos, who had taken over the business in 1977 when Leo passed away, presented the Dove Bar at the Fancy Food Show in Washington, DC and orders started coming in from around the country.

This increased popularity caught the eye of Mars and in 1986 they acquired the Dove brand.

And the moral of this story is that it’s not only charity that begins at home. Can you use your family as your first (and maybe your fiercest) focus group?