Daily News Photo by LYNN FREEHILL Jonathan Levine, left, and Jessica Shrier founded Happy Face Foods, which produces all-natural gelatos and sorbets on St. Thomas. The desserts will be sold at Marina Market, Frenchtown Deli, Jen's Gourmet Cafe & Deli and

Ben & Jerry's may be Vermont's finest. But when you're looking for a cool treat in the Virgin Islands, two St. Thomas entrepreneurs hope you'll choose something all-natural, locally made and loaded with fresh Caribbean ingredients.

Jonathan Levine and Jessica Shrier moved south from New York in November to found Happy Face Foods. The company already is supplying local restaurants and markets with fruity, fat-free sorbets and rich, creamy gelatos.

Flavors range from the classic strawberry, mango and pineapple to the more exotic pumpkin, passionfruit and champagne. Shrier, who produces the frozen desserts in small batches, also creates gourmet taste combinations such as lime-basil and melon-prosciutto.

The gelatos come in varieties such as chocolate, cinnamon, coco-piña, and cookies and cream.

The sorbets and gelatos are free of chemicals and preservatives - in fact, most include just a handful of fresh ingredients. Levine and Shrier strive to purchase Caribbean-produced fruits, vegetables, spices, cane sugars and dairy products whenever possible.

Local residents and business people have been asking questions about ice cream's Italian cousins - and are always willing to taste-test for themselves, Shrier said.

Gelato, she and Levine explain, is made with the same ingredients as ice cream, but through a different process that incorporates less air into the final product.

Dairy-free sorbet is made with iced fruit puree.

"The community's been so receptive to it," Shrier said. "They're not afraid to ask."

Levine, the company's president, had worked in magazine editing for years, but he always loved making coffee-can ice cream on the side, he said.

After vacationing in the Caribbean, Levine said, he "recognized that creating a brand that was based in the Caribbean, used locally-based ingredients, and was all-natural, was something that was lacking."

Happy Face sorbets and gelatos already are being sold for $4 per half-pint and $7 per pint at Frenchtown Deli and Marina Market.

In addition, the brand soon will be sold by the scoop at Jen's Gourmet Cafe & Deli and Burrito Bay Deli.

- Contact Lynn Freehill at 774-8772 ext. 311 or e-mail lfreehill@dailynews.vi.