ROCHESTER, NY (May 21, 2009) -- After 11 years putting more than 300 million units into the clean, unsticky hands of ice cream lovers in every state and 14 countries across the globe, the Buddy System inventor Robert C. Sotile insists he's hardly licked the surface.

It was Memorial Day weekend, 1998, when the Rochester businessman first changed the ice cream industry. After noting that restaurant hygiene practices did not prevent ice cream workers from touching your cone with dirty hands, Mr. Sotile launched The Buddy System, a polystyrene ice cream cone shield that fits all common shapes and sizes of ice cream cones. Not only does it prevent germ-laden hands from touching your ice cream cone, but it's also proficient in catching drips from the frosty confection. From Carvel to Dairy Queen to thousands of high-quality independent shops across the country, the Buddy System has become the crowning touch for customer satisfaction.

Mr. Sotile's invention has garnered international publicity, and has won national and international awards for packaging and food safety.

Mr. Sotile says the greatest reward is the positive customer response.

“Almost 100 percent of the shops that order will re-order,” he says, matter-of-factly. “It's because the customers appreciate the neat, drip-free pleasure of eating their ice cream with a Buddy cone. For just a few pennies, our ice cream shops bring customers back because how ice cream is served is equally important to what is served.”

Forecasts for 2009 sales are up about 20 percent, Mr. Sotile says, citing U.S. sales and some international expansion with Dairy Queen. The ice cream retail business is shrinking, mostly due to the large chains closing locations. Regional unemployment in states like Michigan and Ohio have caused many ice cream stores to close and retarded growth among franchise operations, particularly chains like Maggie Moo's, Coldstone Creamery, Rita's Italian Ice and others, according to Mr. Sotile. “The cost of ice cream is stable,” Mr. Sotile explains. “The cost of doing business is not.”

Still, he finds that many displaced workers are opening new ice cream retail locations, using home equity loans and their 401K plans to get established. He said with so many people laid off by corporate America, they are buying new careers with greater individual control over their fates. He said his new account list includes far more first-year stores than ever.

As with the SARS breakout several years ago, the swine flu threat has increased international interest in the food safety aspects of the Buddy System. The company is working to fill orders from Mexico and other countries, where food safety practices lag behind the United States.

Michael Sotile, the Wisconsin-based son of the founder, discovered another use for the cone buddies. When turned upside down, they fit snugly over liquor bottles with pourers, and can be used to keep fruit flies out of the alcohol at bars. Fruit flies are a major problem in most regions, and bars are frequently fined by the department of health or liquor board for fruit fly infractions. Marketed as the Nite Cap, the “booze buddies” are growing in popularity at bars, restaurants, banquet halls and high-quality hotels.

The Cone Buddies Corporation is a privately held business with headquarters and manufacturing in Rochester, N.Y. Mr. Sotile says he is proud to have kept jobs in Rochester for management, manufacturing and marketing. At 70, he puts in full days managing the business and marketing the Buddy Cones to ice cream retailers across the nation. The Buddy System can be found on the internet at www.BuddySystemUSA.com, or contacted by phone at (585) 427-9940.