IFYA shines the spotlight on Freasy Funnel in our latest installment of the Frozen Yogurt Innovators interview series. We interviewed Nick Gossett, the inventor and VP of Freasy Funnel, a patented, made in the USA universal drain attachment specifically designed to make it faster and easier to clean and sanitize soft serve frozen dessert equipment.
After opening self-serve frozen yogurt store, Yo My Goodness in 2010, Nick found that cleaning machines was messy, time-consuming and inefficient. This led to the invention of Freasy Funnel, an attachment that transports the waste water from the frozen yogurt machine directly into a nearby drain.
Q: What is Freasy Funnel?
NG: I invented the Freasy Funnel in 2010. I worked on several prototypes before getting the finished product produced and patented. The name is a combo of ‘Frozen” and ‘Easy.’ I wanted it to be known to be easy to use, but also incorporating frozen into the name. Some people spell it Freezy Funnel which I suppose also works.
Q: How much time does it take to drain a machine using Freasy Funnel?
NG: I timed it at about 30-45 seconds with just water. When you do the slurry of leftover mix and water, it’s a little longer, but much faster and safer than using buckets. I say safer because often the large 5 gallon buckets are heavy and put the employee at risk of either dropping or slipping while carrying it.
The time it takes to drain the machines the old fashioned way varies depending on whether or not you have a slop sink nearby, which many yogurt shops do not. My system can utilize a drain so you can run the hose into that, rather than having to dump a whole bucket into the sink.
Q: What type of frozen yogurt shops would benefit most from Freasy Funnel?
NG: Shops with 6 machines or more for sure. You have to clean machines 2 times per week, so it adds up. Most shops don’t realize that over the course of a year, they’re spending about $5,000 just cleaning machines.
Q: What plans do you have for Freasy Funnel?
NG: My plan is to get these into every frozen dessert store with a soft serve machine. Dairy Queen, Burger King, Hardees, McDonalds could also incorporate them into their stores.
Q: Tell us about your background.
NG: My background is in the frozen dessert industry starting from high school where I worked at a local frozen custard shop. From there, after college, I started with Pacific Valley Dairy selling mix and supplies to independent ice cream shops and other distributors. We started Yo My Goodness Frozen Yogurt in 2010 of which I am the Director of Operations.
Q: What’s your ideal cup of frozen yogurt?
NG: I’m a chocolate guy! Anything with lots of chocolate!
Additional information about Freasy Funnel can be obtained by visiting the Freasy Funnel website at freasyfunnel.com or by contacting Nick at nick@freasyfunnel.com
