Andy's Frozen Custard bakes between 10 and 60 pumpkin pies a day at each of its 190 locations, a labor-intensive bet that in-house production can differentiate its fall menu from the pumpkin spice products flooding the category every August.

The Springfield, Missouri-based chain, founded in 1986 by John and Carol Kuntz and named after their son, has built its seasonal strategy on scratch production rather than flavored syrups or purée add-ins. "We bake anywhere from 10 to 60 pumpkin pies a day at each store," said Ann Burge, vice president of innovation and training for the 190-unit concept. "Our recipe has a little extra spice, so when it's blended into the custard, you still get that pop of cinnamon and nutmeg."

Each unit also makes its frozen custard from scratch every hour, a cadence designed to keep the texture scoopable and flavors fresh. Andy's uses machines that whip in less air than standard soft-serve equipment, producing a denser, creamier product. The custard also contains more egg than most ice creams or soft serves, which drives the richer flavor and mouthfeel.

The current fall lineup runs through Nov. 25.

Menu engineering around formats

Andy's moves its custard across multiple formats — cones and cups, Concretes, the trademarked Jackhammer, plus lattes and sodas — and claims over 54,000 possible flavor combinations. The Pumpkin Pie Concrete folds a whole slice of house-baked pie into vanilla custard, and the chain also sells a Pumpkin Pie Quart for at-home consumption.

The Jackhammer, a concrete with an additional hole "drilled" in the middle for extra filling, is the brand's own invention. "Andy actually came up with the concept of Jackhammers," said Burge. "He just thought, what if you want more topping in the center of your concrete, and it's perfect for those pumpable items like hot fudge or caramel."

The fall S'mores Jackhammer blends vanilla custard with hot fudge and graham crackers, then fills the drilled core with marshmallow crème. The signature James Brown Funky Jackhammer combines vanilla custard, house-baked brownie pieces and creamy peanut butter, jackhammered with hot fudge in the center.

The formats are outselling the classics. "Both the concretes and Jackhammers tend to sell better than our sundaes," Burge said.

The chain also stretches beyond frozen custard with its Caramel Apples — tart, Midwest-grown Granny Smiths hand-dipped in small-batch buttery crème caramel and coated with Reese's Pieces, roasted pecans or classic caramel.

Sourcing partnerships on the Soda Shoppe menu

Andy's sources its soda program from Sprecher, a small-batch brewery based in Milwaukee, Wisconsin. The limited-time Butterscotch Brew combines Sprecher Cream Soda with vanilla frozen custard and butterscotch, and sits on the Soda Shoppe menu — a retro line of custard-infused drinks the chain rolled out earlier this year. "We call them 'yummy sodas' instead of dirty sodas," said Burge. Every location keeps cream soda and root beer on tap.

The Butterscotch Latte carries the same profile into espresso, blended with vanilla or chocolate frozen custard and butterscotch.

A disciplined pipeline

To support the 54,000-combination claim, Andy's adds one or two new inclusions per year. Recent additions include a Strawberry Matcha Shake plus gooey butter cake, cookie butter, strawberry shortcake, chocolate cake and carrot cake as concrete ingredients or toppings.

The chain passes on trends it can't execute confidently. "We did go down the route of trying to find a Dubai chocolate that we liked, but we didn't feel confident enough about its flavor profile to put with our custard," Burge said. "And we haven't done energy drinks or bubble tea or anything like that yet."

The pipeline is already looking past fall. Burge wants a gingerbread cookie for Christmas and flagged blondies as an option. The chain is developing a pineapple treat for menu callout, and dark red cherries soaked in Bordeaux wine are on the supply list — potentially the base for a Black Forest Cake version as the menu calendar moves into winter.