Letter From the President
Why use Panza
Meet the Panza Team

The Panza's start in the Ice Cream Industry began in New York City in 1955, when two brothers, Angelo and Antonio Panza opened the first Carvel Ice Cream store in the Washington Heights section of Manhattan. John Panza, Angelo's son, worked at the store after school and on weekends and in 1960 became the manager. In 1962 the store was sold. However, Angelo and John still had a strong desire to stay in the Ice Cream business and, in 1964, opened the first Dairy Queen walk-in store in Brooklyn, New York. The following year, Angelo's youngest son, Vito, came into the family Ice Cream business.

As with any entrepreneurs, the Panzas set out to increase sales at their retail store, and concentrated on selling take-home products (Ice Cream cakes, logs, pies, tarts, Tortoni, spumoni and Ice Cream filled Italian style pastries) at retail, as well as wholesale, to bakery and pastry shops. During that time, they also taught other Ice Cream stores to make the same take-home products that were helping to make their store a success. In return, the Panzas sold these stores the cake and cake decorating supplies that were needed to make the various items. The basement of the store was the warehouse, and deliveries were made in a 1958 Volkswagen van that contained a built-in freezer. No one knew at that time that this tiny wholesale business in the basement of an Ice Cream store in Brooklyn, New York would one day become the business it is today.

America's Largest Full-Service Distributor to the Ice Cream Industry
50-60 Parkway Place, Edison, NJ 08837