Mr. Green Tea Ice Cream Company is a third generation family owned business founded in 1968 by Santo (Sam) Emanuele in Brooklyn, New York, that specializes in the manufacture of exotic flavors including green tea, red bean, ginger, chai latte and black sesame.

Mr. Green Tea serves tens of thousands of upscale restaurants throughout the country including some of the finest Japanese restaurants in the world, such as Michelin-starred Sushi of Gari and Zagat “Top Ten” Sushi Yasuda.

Martha Stewart served Mr. Green Tea at her 2005 staff holiday party. In 2009, Mr. Green Tea was served at various festival parties and events of the Sundance Film Festival. They have been featured on NJ 101.5 The Jersey Guys Show, and won the Judges’ Choice award at the 94.3 The Points Dessert Wars.”

Mr. Green Tea’s product selection has had a huge influence on the specialty ice cream category and the specialty dessert category as a whole. “Everything was vanilla,” Santo said. ”And, you know, I knew someone in Philadelphia who was doing some experiments, and we were discussing, and he said, ‘Here’s a good idea.’ The Japanese restaurants were growing like mushrooms and why not try them?” That was in the 1970’s.” It wasn’t until many years later that specialty ice cream began to go mainstream with the help of the popularity of Ben & Jerry’s.

Mr. Green Tea is named after their trademark ice cream flavor, green tea, which Santo created over forty years ago. “He worked on a recipe for green tea ice cream and peddled it to Japanese restaurant owners, who then coached him on how to refine it.”

“With experience in the grocery and dairy industry, Santo sought out to develop new flavors of ice cream to appeal to the burgeoning NYC Japanese restaurant trade. Green Tea, Red Bean & Ginger were developed. Now in its third generation, Mr. Green Tea still handcrafts its exotic desserts using all natural ingredients.”