Who would imagine that playing cards and a few glasses of wine with one of Warwick’s most powerful industrialists at the time would lead to shipping ice cream to China.

That’s one way of looking at a confluence of developments that had Gerard Bucci Jr. in the mayor’s office last Thursday.

Bucci is the president of Warwick Ice Cream, and Scott Avedisian recognized the company’s 85th anniversary with a citation. It just so happens that a container filled with 730 three-gallon tubs of assorted flavors of Warwick Ice Cream left Boston Harbor for a 45-day trip to Wuhu, China. Bucci hopes it is the first of many shipments for a quality product of his grandfather, Charlie Clemente Bucci, started producing 85 years ago.

Back then, the ice cream business was really more of an afterthought than a goal, according to Gerard Bucci.

His grandfather came to this country from Italy, settling in the Natick section, where there is still a strong influence from the old country. He went to work at Pontiac Mill, which developed the Fruit of the Loom (www.fruit.com) brand. The mill was owned and operated by Royal Knight, who lived in a house overlooking the mill that is part of the Community College of Rhode Island Knight Campus today and is the college president’s house.

Evidently, Bucci was good at what he did, and Knight recognized his leadership abilities, making him a supervisor. A friendship developed and, on occasion, Bucci would visit the Knight estate to play cards and share a glass or two of homemade wine.

As the family tale goes, Knight also had an extensive farm (some of the buildings are there today) and a sizeable milking herd. Knight suggested Bucci could make a business from the herd, so he started a milk company.

There was more to it than milk. Bucci bought the land where the ice cream plant is from Knight and started a shop that sold burgers, hot dogs and other counter meals. Then, as a byproduct of the milk business, Bucci found he had a surplus of cream.

Bucci had more than milk, cream and a business. He also had a wife, four sons and a daughter. Three of the sons were born deaf. He was concerned for their future, knowing they would face difficulties. He also saw an opportunity for a new business and, as his grandson tells the story, overnight he closed the restaurant and started making ice cream. It flourished. The company won contracts to supply ice cream to naval bases in Quonset, Newport and New London.

Today, the company employs 18 and produces more than two million gallons of ice cream annually. It has diversified, producing organic ice cream and high-priced specialty ice cream for pets. Its products are sold under different brands as well as Warwick Ice Cream that is carried at Roch’s Market, Sam’s Club and other local outlets. In a recent partnership with another iconic Rhode Island brand, the company will be producing coffee ice cream with Autocrat.

But how is it that the Chinese discovered Warwick Ice Cream?

Bucci said it was a “freak situation” that led to an introduction to a young Chinese man who believes there’s a market for ice cream in his homeland. Bucci provided samples of his product, and the two were in contact for four or five months before the order was placed. What he believes is key to the venture is that Haagen-Dazs is the major imported ice cream in the country, and it sells for much more than what Warwick Ice Cream will retail for.

While it wasn’t on this shipment, Bucci believes he may be asked to make flavors especially attractive to the Asian market, such as ginger ice cream. He’s ready to do it.

“From our experience, there’s a lot of opportunity out there,” said Bucci.

It would appear the company would not only stay local but also Bucci-run. Bucci’s son, Vincent, is among the fourth generation of Buccis making ice cream.