Rita’s Italian Ice goes nerdy with NERDS-inspired flavor, BABY NERDS topping

Now, here’s a combo that I never would have thought of in a million years, but sounds absolutely perfect: Rita’s Italian Ice & Frozen Custard has teamed up with NERDS for a BABY NERDS topping on their Grape flavored Ice.

"We are thrilled to introduce our guests to the innovative and adventurous sweet, crunchy and tangy flavor of NERDS Grape flavored Ice this summer," said Madalyn Weintraub, Senior Director of Marketing at Rita's Italian Ice & Frozen Custard via press release. "Being the first to launch the BABY NERDS™ topping is an incredible opportunity to offer our guests a unique and fun experience they can only find at Rita's. This partnership exemplifies our dedication to continually bringing fresh and exciting flavors to our menu. We are excited for guests to create unforgettable summer memories with a Rita's in their hand!"

You can probably figure out what’s going on here, but in case not: it’s two things. The first thing is the NERDS Grape flavored Ice, which is now available in Rita’s locations. As you might imagine, it’s a grape-flavored ice inspired by NERDS. Having not tasted it myself, I’m not sure what is “NERDS” about it because (hopefully) it’s not crunchy. But hey, grape-flavored ice ain’t bad, so I’m not complaining.

The far more exciting innovation here is the BABY NERDS topping, which is being introduced at Rita’s today, but will be going nationwide by Spring 2025. Again, you can probably figure this out by the name, but BABY NERDS are NERDS – just smaller. They come in the typical rainbow “flavor” of the candy, and are being used to sprinkle as a topping on ice cream, or in this case, ice and custard.

Bringing it all together, Rita’s is also offering a few options that combine all these elements. There’s what’s sort of a frappe, with the NERDS Grape ice, layered with Vanilla Custard, then topped with BABY NERDS. I personally would have put a layer of BABY NERDS in the middle for a surprise crunch, but my name isn’t Rita, so ignore me. And if you want to drink this, you can get NERDS Grape blended with Custard, then topped with BABY NERDS.

You can also order the BABY NERDS as a topping on anything at Rita’s – again, starting today, for a limited time. And as a bonus, if you’re a rewards member you can get a free BABY NERDS topping (one time only) now, until July 21, 2024.

So what are you waiting for? Get crackin’, ya nerds.