March 27, 2017

Meet Adrienne Borlongan of Wanderlust Creamery in Tarzana and Atwater Village

Local Stories

Today we’d like to introduce you to Adrienne Borlongan & Jon-Patrick Lopez.

Thanks for sharing your story with us. Kick it off for us, tell us about Wanderlust and how you guys got to where you are today.

Wanderlust Creamery is the creation of partners, Adrienne Borlongan and Jon-Patrick Lopez (JP). Adrienne is the mastermind behind all of the flavors. We knew we wanted to make artisanal ice cream in unique and interesting flavors. Ice cream was something that JP and I shared a common interest in, so we decided to take plunge into entrepreneurship.

All of Wanderlust Creamery’s ice cream is conceptualized and crafted in-house by Adrienne Borlongan – a Food Science graduate of California State University Northridge (“CSUN”). The granddaughter of a flavor chemist from Magnolia Ice Cream, Adrienne developed her palate & understanding of flavor theory while working as a mixologist, crafting multiple cocktail programs for SBE Hospitality. Adrienne has a unique passion to globalize palates through unique yet familiar ice cream flavors.

JP Lopez, also a CSUN graduate majoring in business, is an attorney turned entrepreneur. Lopez worked for a prominent Los Angeles litigation firm before leaving the legal practice to pursue his passion in developing unique restaurant concepts.

Great, so let’s dig a little deeper into the story – has it been an easy path overall and if not, what were the challenges you’ve had to overcome?
There have been numerous struggles in the beginning with regards to the steep learning curve that entrepreneurship presents. Food costing, labor, and marketing are some areas that we had to learn on the fly when we first started.

Alright – so let’s talk business. Tell us about Wanderlust Creamery – what should we know?
Each of our artisanal ice cream flavors are inspired by places we’ve been and places we want to travel to. Our Flavors range from Sticky Rice Mango inspired by Thailand to Ube Malted Crunch, inspired by our Filipino American upbringing, to Earl Grey inspired by Great Britain. Our unexpected flavor combinations are precisely formulated to ensure a cream texture that’s light on the palate, regardless of whether it’s made with 100% all nature dairy or dairy-free.

Inspired by our own feelings of wanderlust, every flavor is made from memories, the flavors that remind us of our childhoods, the places we’ve been and the places we want to go. Our unexpected flavor combinations are precisely formulated to ensure a creamy texture that’s light on the palate, regardless of whether it’s made with 100% organic milk from Straus Family Creamery or dairy-free.

Is there a characteristic or quality that you feel is essential to success?
We heavily focus on our social media marketing. We believe that Wanderlust Creamery’s success stems from well curated posts with meaningful descriptions. Additionally, we are deeply inspired by travel and the desire to explore, Wanderlust. Having wanderlust fueled our drive to develop Wanderlust Creamery into what it is today.

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