SAUGUS — Soc’s Ice Cream shop has anchored Saugus summers for decades past, and co-owner Sharon Cacciola has big plans for the future. The next chapter might just be a little smoother, denser, and, as co-owner Cacciola recently learned, “a little more sexy.”

Cacciola and her business manager, Karen Venezia, recently returned from a three-day crash course in gelato-making on Long Island, trading their familiar routines behind the counter for a classroom led by a self-described “gelato maestro.” They brought back a world-class experience, which will hopefully lead to some fresh new ideas for the shop. 

Soc’s Ice Cream already carries a long history. The shop has been in Saugus for roughly 50 years, its name tracing back to its original owner, Socrates Vrattos, whose nickname inspired “Soc’s.” Over time, the stand has outlasted nearby landmarks and remained a constant for generations of customers along Route One.

For Cacciola, that sense of continuity is personal. When she and her husband, Paul, bought the shop about a decade ago at the urging of their son Steven, who had worked there as a teenager, it quickly became a true family business. All three of their children spent time behind the counter, from after-school shifts to summers scooping ice cream.

“We are not business owners,” Cacciola said with a laugh, recalling the leap. “My husband is an electrical engineer… I’m a medical assistant by trade.”

The Cacciolas will celebrate their tenth anniversary of owning the shop in May, and the family-run shop has grown. It’s grounded in both tradition and a willingness to try something new. Now, with Venezia on board as business manager, the local staple is looking for ways to evolve.

That’s where gelato comes in.

The class, held at the Gelato & Pastry Institute of America, was equal parts culinary training and business seminar. Over three full days, the two learned everything from customer service strategies to the heavy math behind frozen desserts, working through recipes that relied on precise ratios, weights, and calculations.

Cacciola said she took a lot away from the course, but one of the biggest takeaways was the artisan nature of gelato making. “Gelato isn’t just European ice cream,” she said. 

Ice cream typically contains around 14% milk fat, while gelato sits closer to 7%, made primarily with milk instead of cream. It’s churned more slowly, incorporating less air, which results in a denser texture and more intense flavor. It’s also served at a slightly warmer temperature, giving it that softer, silkier consistency.

During the course, each participant developed their own flavor. Cacciola’s creation — a lemon gelato swirled with raspberry sorbet — even earned her a win in a friendly class contest. Venezia experimented with a bananas foster variation, complete with a sprinkle of cinnamon on top.

The course was not only beneficial for the Soc’s owners, but delicious. “We ate gelato all week,” Cacciola said. The group also learned to make sorbets, layered cakes, and more with live instruction from the experts at the Institute. 

Now back in Saugus, the challenge is how to bring those ideas into a shop built on traditional ice cream. At Soc’s, nearly all of the ice cream is made in-house, giving the team the equipment and flexibility to experiment with gelato right away. The bigger obstacle is space — both for storing ingredients and for properly displaying gelato, which typically requires specialized cases and presentation.

For now, the plan is to start small. The shop recently invested in a mobile ice cream cart, intended for events like birthday parties and weddings. Now, Cacciola sees it as a potential entry point for gelato — a way to introduce the product without overhauling the entire storefront.

There are other ideas in the works, too: house-made popsicles using gelato techniques, ice cream sandwiches, and expanded catering options.

Even with those additions, Soc’s isn’t straying far from what made it successful in the first place. It remains, at its core, a neighborhood ice cream shop. One built by a family, and shaped by the community it serves.

But if things go according to plan, customers might soon find something new in the display case: a taste of Italy, filtered through a Saugus lens. And for a shop that’s spent 50 years evolving, that feels like a natural next step.