History of Icecream in New Zealand

The very early European settlers would have known of ice cream, but only as an extreme luxury. Fresh milk became available with the introduction of Durham dairy cows in 1814 by missionary Samuel Marsden, and sugar was readily available, imported in bulk from Australia. But the preparation of frozen confections would have involved the collection, transport and storage of ice from mountains or frozen lakes. However, ice became commercially available from the 1840's, harvested from lakes in the USA, and shipped all around the world. In particular, the ice from Wenham Lake, Massachusetts became world-famous for its clarity, harvested and distributed by the Wenham Lake Ice Company, founded by Frederic Tudor, "The Ice King 27 January 1866, an advertisement appeared in the Wellington Independent newspaper: ICE! ICE!! ICE!!! AT THE EMPIRE HOTEL, WELLINGTON. MR. JAMES OSGOOD has great pleasure in notifying his friends and the public at large, that he has imported, at considerable expense, an article never before introduced into Wellington, (to wit) LAKE WENHAM ICE. The same will be in constant use at the EMPIRE until further notice. ON SATURDAY (THIS DAY), ICE CREAM FROM ELEVEN A.M. Also, ICE CLARET PUNCH. ICE CREAM AT DINNER, ON SUNDAY, At 1.3o p.m. THE PATRONAGE OF THE PUBLIC SOLICITED BY JAMES OSGOOD, Proprietor, Empire Hotel. Wellington, Jan 27, 1866. Photo: Above at left, Mr James Osgood outside The Empire Hotel, Willis St, Wellington, 1860 - NZETC. Mechanical refrigeration was introduced to New Zealand in the early 1880's, with pioneering shipments of frozen meat and butter to England. In 1881 the first commercial meat freezing operation was established, the New Zealand Refrigerating Company in Burnside, Dunedin, and cheap, plentiful factory ice became available. 12 November 1892 - an advertisement in the Timaru Herald: ICE! ICE!! ICE!!! BUDD wishes to inform his Patrons that he intends to Supply during the Season as follows: Apricot Ice Cream, Brown Bread Ice Cream, Chocolate Ice Cream, Biscuit Ice Cream, Coffee Ice Cream, Mixed Fruit Ice Cream, Pine Apple Ice Cream, Raspberry Ice Cream, Strawberry Ice Cream, Vanilla Ice Cream, Iced Lemonade, Iced Ginger Ale, Iced Soda Water. 1903 - we don't know when ice cream was first commercially manufactured in New Zealand, but in this year Sali Mahomet began making ice cream in his own "dairy" (behind his house) at 69 Caledonia Rd., St. Albans, Christchurch, and selling it from his ice cream cart in Cathedral Square. A horse and cart would deliver one hundred weight (42kg) blocks of ice from the Canterbury Frozen Meat Company each morning. The ice was used to make the ice cream, and for packing around the ice cream to transport it into the Square and keep it frozen during the day. Christchurch's ‘Ice Cream Charlie’ became a city institution and continued to sell ice cream in the Square until 1942. Photo - Sali Mahomet in his dairy, ca. 1910 - Christchurch City Libraries File Reference CCL PhotoCD 18, IMG0041. Ice cream manufacturing as we know it was certainly underway by 29 December 1911 when an article appeared in the Evening Post about the Ambrosia Ice Cream Company in Wellington: "Ambrosia it is claimed that it is made of pure pasteurised cream and free from chemicals of any sort. There are some sixty varieties of frozen dainties which the Ambrosia Company can supply. The ice cream is made under scrupulously clean conditions as a reporter of The Post, who visited the factory, saw for himself. It is kept twenty-four hours in the ice chamber before being sent out, and being mixed by machinery is entirely untouched by hand in the process of manufacture. The Ambrosia ice cream is sent out in such a condition as to ensure its appearance on the table in first-class condition. It is put up in lots of one gallon and upwards." In the early 1900's, ice cream was also sold, along with milkshakes, sodas, fruit drinks, fruit salads, coffee and confectionery, in American-styled "ice cream parlours" and "marble bars". The Le Grand marble bar opened in Gisborne in 1916: "The marble bar itself will be furnished with a marble bar counter, 38ft in length, finished in ltalian Carara white marble, ornamented with base and pedestal of New Zealand greenstone. Behind it will be an equally elaborate and up-to-date buffet, reaching to a height of 12ft, complete with all the latest fittings, with marble top, extensive mirrors, and surmounted by an artistic canopy, ornamented by massive columns and lead light decoration. The latter will depict a Dutch scene, and will be illuminated by 22 electric globes." 12 April 1923 - a vendor, J Healey of Hokitika, was fined £2 and costs £3 17 shillings in the Magistrate's Court for selling "ice cream deficient in milk fat". August 1925 - Robinson Ice Cream Company supplies 54,000 blocks of Robinson Ice Cream to the American Fleet on its visit to Auckland, and later proudly advertises the letter of thanks it received from one of the warships: " Gentlemen - The ice cream which you supplied the U.S.S. New Mexico was highly gratifying, and a more delicious cream would be difficult to find. We, as Americans, are the world's largest consumers of ice cream, and as such we consider ourselves qualified to judge your very excellent product." - (Signed) Norman J. Goeltz, chief yeoman, U.S. Navy. Treasurer, C.P.O. Mess. P. E. Thomas, Chief Commissary, Steward, U.S. Navy. 1926 - Queen Anne opened its three-storey College St, Wellington factory, manufacturing chocolates and ice cream for sale throughout New Zealand from its chain of iconic ‘Adams Bruce’ and ‘Queen Anne’ shops. 12 February 1927 - the Christchurch Evening Post reported that a number of manufacturers of ice cream were charged with having sold their product on Sundays. In his judgment the Magistrate said that he "was not prepared to hold that the manufacture of ice cream was a necessity." New Zealand's restrictive Sunday trading laws continued to be a problem for ice cream manufacturers well into the 1930's - it was illegal to deliver ice cream on Sundays, and it was illegal to sell ice cream on Sundays unless it was "consumed on the premises". The New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers Association was incorporated in 1927. The first members present at the first meeting were W.A. Fisher, Frozen Products Ltd (makers of Frosty Jack brand), Wellington; P.H. Ferguson, Robinson Ice Cream Co., Auckland; and H. Turner, Crystal Ice Cream, Dunedin. The first Chairman and President was H. Turner. At this time New Zealand ice cream was manufactured by comparatively small businesses, located in towns and cities across the country, supplying only their local areas and producing their product in batches. Business increased steadily for the next 25 years or so, as new factories opened up to meet demand in local towns and cities. 1932 - New Zealand's annual ice cream production is 600,000 gallons (2.7 million litres). Advertisement - Robinsons Ice Cream, Auckland Star, April 9, 1932. 1933 - Peters Ice Cream (NZ) Ltd, who already operated factories in Auckland (Newmarket), Hamilton and Whangarei, purchased ice cream factories in Rotorua and Whakatane from the Arawa Dairy Company Ltd. Peters was established in New Zealand in 1930, an offshoot of the NSW (Australian) company of the same name. Photo - Peters Ice Cream Newmarket factory with delivery trucks, 1936. 10 October 1935 - Wellington's first milk bar, the original Tip Top Milk Bar, is opened at 36 Manners St., Wellington, selling ice cream and milkshakes (see sidebar at right). "Milk and ice cream are basis of almost all the many varieties of drink obtainable at the bar, which is equipped with modern electrical devices for the freezing and mixing of the drinks. It is anticipated that the milk required for it will be between 200 and 300 gallons a week." Photo - Tip Top Milk Bar - Dominion Post. December 1943 - under wartime rationing regulations, the Government reduced the minimum butterfat content required in ice cream from 10 per cent to 8. Sugar supplies to ice cream manufacturers had already been cut in half, and cream supplies cut by one-third. With the sugar shortage, the Government also amended the ice cream regulations to allow the use of saccharine, although by the time it became law, the war had ended. Despite the restrictions during the War, it was conceded that ice cream had its uses. A good serving of ice cream was said to lift a soldier’s spirits and certain manufacturers were entitled to extra sugar supplies, in order to supply military camps – at an agreed rate of 2 gallons per man per year. November 1944 - Tip Top ice cream mix is supplied to Camp Tui, a beach rest centre on Guadalcanal in the Solomon Islands, where an ice cream plant had been installed for the use of RNZAF servicemen on leave from the fighting. Production grew from 4 to 10 million litres per year during the 1940s, due to the demands of US servicemen stationed in the country, and the growing availability of refrigerators and commercial deep freezers. Photo: American servicemen ordering sodas and sundaes at the American Red Cross Cecil Club in Wellington - US National Archives. 1949 - ice cream was added to the NZ consumers price index (CPI) basket of goods and services. A 'slice' of ice cream was priced around 3 pence (85 cents in today's terms). 1951 - the classic Kiwi stick ice cream, the Jelly Tip is born. Creamy Tip Top vanilla ice cream on a stick, tipped with a raspberry flavoured jelly, and coated with chocolate. In 1953 the NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association could claim 49 ice cream manufacturing companies as members. When continuous production machinery arrived, and concurrently with advances in refrigerated transport, it enabled ice cream to be distributed greater distances. These advances saw, during the 1950's and 60's, many small producers either disappearing, merging or being taken over by larger companies, and the larger manufacturers gradually expanding towards nationwide distribution. Ice cream brands that did not survive the takeovers, and competition from larger companies, include many magical names from the past: Alpine (Huntly), Ambrosia (Wellington), Artic (Petone), Apex (Christchurch), Astrella's (Auckland), Barlow's (Te Aroha), Blue Moon (Hastings), Byers (Palmerston North), Clarke's (Petone), Cooke's (Auckland), Crystal (Dunedin), Eldora (Auckland), Fiesta (Auckland), Frosty Jack (Wellington), Gates' (Wellington), Gaytime (Auckland), Glacier, La Grande (Wellington), Manda (Invercargill), Mays, McDonald (Auckland), McDonald's (Palmerston North), Meadow Gold (Auckland), Mooloo (Hamilton), New American (Auckland), Newells, Newjoy (Dunedin), New Polar (Auckland), Perfection (Christchurch), Peter Pan (Waipukurau), Peters (Auckland), Queen Anne (Wellington), Righton's (Whakatane?), Robinson (Auckland), Rosco (Hamilton), Royal (Dunedin), Snowdrop (Ashburton), Snowflake (Auckland), Walls (Auckland), Ward's (Timaru), and Westland Snowflake (Greymouth). Newjoy Ice Cream menu boardThe change in proportion of bulk ice cream to take home ice cream was enabled by the advent of domestic refrigerators in the 1950's, and the National Film Unit made a short feature film on ice cream manufacture following an industry radio campaign based on the theme ‘Take home ice cream – Take Home Health.’ Another successful radio advertising campaign which ran from 1957 to 1960 was based on the slogan “Meal Time is Ice Cream Time”. Leaflets were distributed widely to back up the radio adverts, which were fronted by Aunt Daisy. The campaign promoted ice cream at breakfast, lunch and dinner time. 1955 - another, potentially less-healthy promotion was run by Westland Snowflake Ice Cream Ltd, when it advertised Uranium Ice Cream. Listen to Owen Norton, former Director of Westland Snowflake, on Radio NZ National programme. Photo: Newjoy Ice Cream menu board, 1950's - longwhitekid. By 1955, the ice cream unit used for the NZ consumers price index (CPI) basket of goods and services was changed to a pint block (568mls), which was valued at 20 pence ($3.65 in today's terms). In 1962, Tip Top Ice Cream Company built what was at the time the Southern Hemisphere’s largest and most advanced ice cream factory, costing NZ$700,000. Prime Minister Keith Holyoake attended the opening ceremony. The Tip Top factory included staff houses and 20 acres of farm land overlooking Auckland’s Southern motorway. Over time, the Tip Top factory became a New Zealand landmark, known to generations as ‘Tip Top corner’. Photo: Prime Minister Holyoake with iceblock - Tip Top. Supermodel Rachel Hunter appeared for the first time on television in an advertisement for Tip Top Trumpet in the mid 1980’s at 15 years of age. 1984 - New American Ice Cream launches the legendary Goody Goody Gum Drops ice cream flavour. 1985 - the first New Zealand Natural Ice Cream premium ice cream parlour opens at Bondi Beach, Sydney. New Zealand Natural, 100% owned by New Zealand-based Emerald Foods, now has a network of over 650 branded outlets in more than 24 countries. 1997 - Memphis Meltdown is launched, a technical world-first for Tip Top technologists, a "triple-dipped" premium ice cream stick novelty with a caramel sauce layer between double-coatings of real chocolate . 1997 was also the year that the first annual nationwide competition amongst ice cream manufacturing companies was held, the New Zealand Ice Cream Awards. Manufacturers and artisan producers compete across 10 or more product categories, with a panel of independent judges awarding medals, category winners, and an overall Supreme Award. In 2011, Tip Top Ice Cream celebrated its 75th anniversary, with the original Trumpet girl Rachel Hunter, and various promotions including a free giveaway of 50,000 Jelly Tips. http://www.nzicecream.org.nz/history-nz.htm