If you’ve ever driven down Interstate 40 through northern Arizona, you might’ve caught a whiff of something that doesn't quite match the local ponderosa pines. It smells like a giant waffle iron just popped open. That scent is coming from Joy Cone Flagstaff AZ, a massive, 250,000-square-foot facility that basically keeps the American ice cream industry from falling apart. Honestly, most people just assume their ice cream cones come from some nameless corporate warehouse in the Midwest. But no, a huge chunk of them—over a billion every year—are baked right here at 7,000 feet.
It’s kinda wild when you think about it. You’re in a high-altitude mountain town, and inside this building, they are churning out 1.2 million cones a day. That’s not a typo. Whether you’re hitting a Dairy Queen in California or grabbing a box of sugar cones from a grocery store in Texas, there is a very high chance that specific cone was born in Flagstaff.
Why Flagstaff? The Sam Walton Connection
You might wonder why a company headquartered in Pennsylvania decided to set up shop in the middle of Arizona’s high country. Legend has it—and this is something plant engineers have actually confirmed—that Joe George, whose family started the business back in 1918, was reading a book by Sam Walton. The Walmart founder described Flagstaff as the "gateway to the West." George took that to heart.
They needed a western hub. Shipping fragile, airy cones across the Mojave Desert from Pennsylvania was a logistical nightmare. They looked at California and Utah, but Flagstaff won out for two main reasons.
- The Temperature: Baking on a massive scale generates an insane amount of heat. In Phoenix, you'd be fighting the weather. In Flagstaff, the temperate climate helps naturally cool the facility.
- The Logistics: It’s sitting right on the I-40 and the railway. It’s the perfect midpoint between their two biggest western markets: California and Texas.
The 7,000-Foot Baking Glitch
When Joy Cone Flagstaff AZ first opened its doors in March 2000, they hit a snag they hadn't fully prepared for: the altitude.
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Baking at 7,000 feet isn’t like baking at sea level. The air is thinner. Moisture evaporates faster. Your grandma’s cookie recipe needs more flour up here, and Joy Cone’s industrial-scale batter was no different. Joe Pozar Jr., who helped get the plant running, admitted that mastering the "high-altitude cone" took some serious trial and error. They eventually cracked the code, ensuring that a waffle cone made in the mountains of Arizona tastes exactly like one made in the humidity of Pennsylvania.
Who Actually Owns the Place?
Here is the coolest part that most people miss. In 2016, the company made a massive shift. The George family, who had owned the business for three generations, decided they didn't want to sell out to some giant food conglomerate that would gut the company for parts.
Instead, they gave it to the workers.
Joy Cone Flagstaff AZ is part of a 100% employee-owned company (an ESOP). Every person you see walking into that facility on Shamrell Drive—from the people mixing the batter to the folks driving the forklifts—is an owner. When the company does well, their retirement accounts grow. It’s a rare model in 2026, especially for a manufacturing giant that controls about 60% of the U.S. cone market.
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What They’re Making Inside
It’s not just one type of cone. The Flagstaff facility is a high-tech bakery that handles:
- Cake Cones: Those classic, flat-bottomed ones you had as a kid.
- Sugar Cones: The crunchy, pointed ones that hold up to heavy scoops.
- Waffle Cones & Bowls: The premium, thick-ridged variety.
- Industrial Orders: They supply the "big guys" like McDonald's and Dairy Queen.
They even have their own machine shop. Instead of buying ovens from a third party, they build their own cone-baking machines right on-site. It’s vertical integration at its most literal.
The Local Impact: More Than Just Sugar
For years, the Flagstaff plant was famous for its school tours. You could take a bunch of second graders in there to see a ton of sugar—literally a ton—and watch the batter pour into molds. While those tours have mostly scaled back for safety and production reasons, the company remains a local heavyweight.
They’ve grown from about 150 employees to nearly 300 year-round workers. They also do things like recapturing the heat from the ovens to warm the building during Flagstaff’s brutal winters. And those "oops" cones that aren't quite perfect? They don't just toss them. They’re often sold as scrap for animal feed, keeping the waste to a minimum.
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How to Work With or Visit Joy Cone
If you’re looking to get involved with Joy Cone Flagstaff AZ, here’s the ground truth for 2026:
- Employment: They are almost always hiring. Because it’s employee-owned, the benefits are legendary in Northern Arizona. You usually have to be there a year before the stock options start kicking in, but for long-haulers, it’s a gold mine.
- Purchasing: You can’t really "buy" a single cone at the factory door. It’s a manufacturing plant, not a retail shop. However, you’ll find their "Joy" brand in every Bashas’, Food City, and Safeway in town.
- Location: 2843 W Shamrell Blvd, Flagstaff, AZ 86005. It’s tucked away in the Interstate South Industrial Park.
If you’re a local business owner or a logistics nerd, the best way to connect is through the Greater Flagstaff Chamber of Commerce, where Joy Cone is a long-standing, active member. They also partner with Northern Arizona University (NAU) and Coconino High School for internships, especially in engineering and food science.
Next time you’re at a summer BBQ or a local scoop shop, take a look at the logo on the paper jacket of your cone. If it says Joy, there’s a massive chance it was baked by an owner-operator in the crisp air of Flagstaff.
To see if they currently have open positions or to check out their latest sustainable palm oil initiatives, you can head over to their official careers page.