Mora Iced Creamery comes to Covington

Mora Iced Creamery got its start in 2006 on Bainbridge Island. Now, locals who live in Covington don’t have to take a ferry ride to get some of this delectable ice cream.

Owners Ana Orselli and Jerry Perez wanted to bring flavors from their hometown of Buenos Aires to the Seattle area, along with new flavors as well.

Shari, Larry and Andrew Whyte are the franchisees of the new Mora Iced Creamery in Covington, located at 17327 SE 270th Place, which had its grand opening on April 24. They also franchise several other locations in Washington and one in Utah.

Shari Whyte said the Covington location is the first Mora on this side of Seattle. She said they wanted to open one here because of the amount of growth happening in the area.

“We choose this for that reason — the big business growth that is already happening here — but also the family community that’s here. It’s a very close community. People are really helpful with one another and they like to be with their families and do things with their families,” Shari said.

She said the community has been excited for Mora to open in Covington. While they were working on construction, Shari said people were stopping by saying, “When are you opening? We’re so excited!”

Sonja Griffing, a community member who attended Mora’s grand opening, said she and her family were really excited for the Covington location to open because they’ve been to the Bainbridge location multiple times and are big fans of it.

She said her favorite flavor is Chocolate Peanut Butter Moreo, which is a chocolate mousse ice cream full of Oreos and swirls of peanut butter.

It’s been made clear from customer feedback that Mora is no stranger to marketing. Shari said they have been advertising for the Covington location’s grand opening since last summer with the community and at various events.

She said someone even told her at an event, “Boy, you know how to market because you’re building this anticipation so high that we just can’t stand it, we just can’t wait.”

The ice cream is made by an organic certified manufacturer in Poulsbo in an “artisanal” process, Shari said.

“What that means is they make it in small batches and everything is made with real, whole and responsibly-sourced ingredients. So there’s no additives, no artificial flavors in the mixes. So when we have a watermelon sorbet, it’s with cut up watermelon,” she said

Mora in total has about 70 unique flavors to offer customers, but the Covington location will house about 40. Those 40 flavors will rotate with seasonal favorites, Shari said.

For example, in February, Mora offers a flavor called “XOXO,” which is a chocolate and cherry ice cream. This month’s seasonal favorite is cantaloupe. Shari said she really likes the dark chocolate mint, mojito and several others. When customers come in, Shari said they like to find someone’s favorite flavor.

“It has been a tremendously warm and enthusiastic response. There have been some other ice cream or yogurt shops in the area, but nothing that’s really stuck and nothing with the artisanal quality that we’re talking about with Mora and people are very open and excited about it,” Shari said. “And truly when you try the ice cream, it’s like it is extraordinary.”