How do I hand over my ice cream shop’s flavour recipes and tubs routine?

Start by writing the recipes in a form a stranger could follow. Include quantities, mixing order, base supplier notes and the little tricks you do by feel. Then watch someone else make a batch from your page alone; wherever they hesitate, your notes are missing something.

The tub routine is the part owners forget. Describe how you decide which flavours go in the case, when a tub is swapped, what gets pulled when it sells slowly, and how you keep track of what sold. Photos of the display on busy and quiet days help.

Think about timing. A serious buyer needs to see enough to judge the shop, but the whole recipe book is something to hand over once the sale is firm, ideally with a confidentiality agreement your lawyer has prepared. Ask your lawyer whether the recipes should be listed in the sale documents. Plan the training too. Offer to work alongside the new owner for a stretch, make the first batches together and introduce the supplier contacts. A written handover plan is easier for a buyer to take seriously than a promise to help. Keep a copy of everything you hand over, and note the date, so both sides know exactly what was shared and when it was shared.

Key takeaways

• Test each written recipe by letting someone else make a batch from it.
• Describe how flavours rotate and when tubs are swapped, not just the recipes.
• Hand over the full set only after the sale is firm and protected.