Coppelia (ice cream parlor)
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| Industry | Food Processing |
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| Founded | June 4, 1966 |
| Headquarters | Vedado, Havana City, Cuba |
| Products | Ice cream |
Coppelia is an ice cream parlor chain in Cuba. Coppelia is state-run and sells in both Cuban pesos (CUP) and Cuban convertible pesos (CUC). Havana's Coppelia, for instance, employs more than 400 workers and serves 4,250 US gallons (16,100 l) of ice cream to 35,000 customers each day.
When business started in 1966, it ran with an impressive count of 26 flavors and 25 combinations. Today, lines are generally long and the supply and selection of flavors is scarce, with usually only one or two available at any given time.
Havana's Coppelia is a Cuban Revolution modernist building from 1966. Features five white granite discs annexed to one great helicoidal staircase, with wood and tinted glass division panels, all inside one big round roof supported by twelve reinforced concrete arachnid columns. The flying-saucer-shaped building represents a UFO that has landed in Havana. It has amazing modernist furniture (ie. Bertoia chairs that worth $200 online). Is one of the largest ice cream parlors in the world. Holding 1000 guests, it is located on the part of Calle 23 known as La Rampa in the Vedado district, and occupies the entire city block between Calles 23 and 21, and Calles K and L. Coppelia has been a major city landmark for both locals and visitors since its opening in 1966, but acquired additional fame when it was featured in one of the most widely viewed Cuban films, Strawberry and Chocolate.
Coppelia was originally built in a project led by Fidel Castro himself to introduce his love of dairy products to the Cuban masses, creating the Coppelia enterprise to produce those products. The original aim was to produce more ice cream flavors than the big American brands, buying the best machines from the Netherlands and Sweden. Fidel's longtime secretary, Celia Sánchez, named Coppelia after her favorite ballet Coppélia.
The site of Coppelia Havana was the Hospital Reina Mercedes, functioning from 1886–1954. The hospital was demolished and originally there were plans to build another hospital on the site. The plans then changed and a 50-story skyscraper was to be built on the site, but these plans fell through. A tourism promotion pavilion, Parque INIT, then occupied the site, then the Centro Recreativo Nocturnal (night-time entertainment center).
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