Under Ricky Fitzhugh’s ownership, Ice Lab LLC has expanded its operations to include a second production and freezing facility in Cambridge. (Submitted photo)
Dorchester County entrepreneur Ricky Fitzhugh has completed the purchase of Glen Burnie-based Ice Lab, a company that carves custom ice sculptures, bars and drink luges for festivals, corporate functions, weddings and other special events nationwide.
Under Fitzhugh’s ownership, Ice Lab LLC has expanded its operations to include a second production and freezing facility in Cambridge.
The new plant contains multiple icemakers that freeze 300-pound crystal-clear blocks used for sculpting and creating artisan cocktail cubes. Ice Lab is now the largest producer of ice blocks between New York and Florida, according to Fitzhugh. Block production supports Ice Lab events and sales to other ice sculptors on the East Coast.
Ice Lab has also launched an artisan cocktail ice division – Luxury Rocks – that produces clear, over-sized cubes, the preferred method and presentation for chilling beverages by cocktail connoisseurs and the professionals who serve them.
The completion of the Ice Lab acquisition follows Fitzhugh’s December 2021 sale of Baltimore-based Rosedale Ice to Stone Canyon Industries Holdings, owners of the nationwide Reddy Ice brand. Rosedale supplied bagged and block ice for businesses, convenience stores and institutions in Maryland and spanning the Atlantic Coast from New Jersey to South Carolina.
For the upcoming winter holiday season, Fitzhugh secured a contract to produce custom ice carvings for Enchant, a series of Christmas-themed villages being held throughout the U.S. In addition, the company carves themed-sculptures for ice festivals in cities throughout the mid-Atlantic, including Baltimore, Cambridge, Easton, Frederick and Havre de Grace; Bethany Beach, Delaware; and Leesburg, Virginia.
Capitalizing on the rising consumer demand for cocktail ice, Ice Lab produces cubes that are free of particulates and minerals and elevate the delicate notes of premium spirits without diluting the taste, according to Fitzhugh.
Cocktail cubes are packaged individually or as a set and are available through advance order.
Ice Lab also designs customized cocktail cubes – engraved or stamped – to create the perfect accessory for weddings, graduations, corporate events and other special occasions.
Fitzhugh also owns Hoopers Island Oyster Co. in Cambridge, a vertically integrated business that grows farm-raised oysters, spawns oyster larvae and seed sold to other farms from Maine to the Carolinas and is also one of the world’s largest manufacturers of shellfish aquaculture equipment.