Living the Domincan Life - Viviendo La Vida Dominicana: ☺ Helados Bon

Helado Bon Logo
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The late and great Alfonso Moreno Martinez
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How can I describe Helado Bon? Hmm. I could say fantastic, amazing, beautiful, uplifting, delightful, and just plain wonderful. Helado Bon is an ice cream shop that is known for selling the best ice cream in the country. From young to old, people enjoy this ice cream everyday. Of course there are other ice cream places you can go to such as Splash but, there's just something about Helado Bon that attracts people. It could be it's yellow and red logo colors or it can be the welcoming employees. I don't know what it is but it's great! The company has been famous since its founder Alfonso Moreno Martinez built its first shop in Santo Domingo in May of 1975. Alfonso Moreno Martinez was actually an ex-candidate for the presidency who went against Rafael Leonidas Trujillo's dictatorship at the time in the Dominican Republic. Since then, 240 shops have been set up in the Dominican Republic and 2 now stand in Haiti. The company has also expanded its brand into franchises. Currently, 160 of the 240 shops are franchises. Incredible!
When I was looking at their website, not only did I find their history but, I also saw that in their Ice Cream and Nutrition section, they explain why all the ingredients they use are good for the body! How thoughtful of the company to give us those facts! I started laughing. "Haha" For example, they spoke about calcium:

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*Translation*
"Calcium: The ice creams containing milk can be considered a good alternative to contribute to dietary intake of calcium. (containing between 148 mg/100 g of average milk ice cream to 89 mg/100 g on the frozen cream), its use is especially recommended in childhood, adolescence, pregnancy and lactation and also in older people."

Another example: Stress

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*Translation*
"Ice Cream reduces stress: Stress is one of the great evils of this world especially in people with very active lifestyles which have to balance work, family and in many case studies it is determined that eating ice cream can help reduce stress both physical (pain) and psychological (anxiety).
These studies have shown that the components of ice cream, such as casein (milk protein), chocolate or sugars are involved in stress reduction mechanisms because they function as exorphins which, in turn, act as opioid system in the nervous system. Producing a feeling of well being. Source: Libro Blancos de los Helados."
This just makes me want to eat their ice cream more! Another great thing about Helado Bon is that you don't have to go to an Helado Bon shop to eat their ice cream. You can practically find Helado Bon ice creams anywhere! You can find them at the gasoline station, waiting for a bus, and you'll most likely see Haitians and Dominicans walking around and selling them in small little carts. My favorite flavor is chocolate fudge and a big cone costs I believe RD$100. In all sincerity, you can't leave this country without experiencing one of their ice cream flavors and a rising characteristic of Dominican culture. Enjoy ☺.