Baskin-Robbins is an American multinational chain of ice cream and cake speciality shops owned by Inspire Brands. Based in Canton, Massachusetts, Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by Burt Baskin (1913–1967) and Irv Robbins (1917–2008) in Glendale, California.^[1] It is the world's largest chain of ice cream speciality stores,^[2] with more than 8,000 locations,^[3] including nearly 2,500 shops in the United States and over 5,000 in other countries.^[4] Baskin-Robbins has stores in nearly 50 countries.

The company is known for its "31 flavors" slogan, with the idea that a customer could have a different flavor every day of any month. The slogan came from the Carson-Roberts advertising agency (which later merged into Ogilvy & Mather) in 1953. Baskin and Robbins believed that people should be able to sample flavors for free until they found one they wanted to buy.

The company has introduced more than 1,300 flavors since 1945,^[5][6] including the 2019 addition of vegan and non-dairy flavors.^[7][8] The company has been based in Canton, Massachusetts, since 2004 after moving from Randolph, Massachusetts.^[9]

History

Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1948 by American brothers-in-law Burt Baskin and Irv Robbins from the merging of their respective ice cream parlors, in Glendale, California.

Burt Baskin learned about ice cream while he was in the military during World War II. He somehow obtained some equipment and started making ice cream for other soldiers. He even got a little experimental with it when he started using some tropical fruits. After the war he wanted to continue with his ice cream business, so he opened up Burton's Ice Cream Shop in California in 1946.^[10]

Irv Robbins had been in the ice cream business his entire life. When he was a teenager in 1930s, Robbins managed an ice cream counter in his father's store. He too entered the military during World War II. As soon as he returned he used $6,000 to open Snowbird Ice Cream in California in 1945.^[11]

During Baskin's time in the military, he married Robbin's sister, Shirley Robbins. In 1948, they decided to combine their companies into one and call it Baskin-Robbins. Snowbird Ice Cream offered 21 flavors, a novel concept at that time. When the separate companies merged in 1948, the number of flavors was expanded to 31.^[1][12]