Two ice cream parlours open in Kamloops as summer approaches
Two new ice cream joints have opened up in Kamloops this weekend, just in time for warmer weather.
Both Frozen Paddle and The Ice Cream Social opened to the public on May 1.
Lisa Bajkov is general manager and co-owner of Frozen Paddle on Victoria Avenue. She looks forward to joining the creative and locally-focussed business community in Kamloops' downtown.
This is Frozen Paddle's second location. The original is in Prince George, where it began as a father-son operation with a food truck and they later opened their first store location last year.
Their focus is to procure local ingredients, like haskap berries out of Salmon Arm, coffee beans roasted in Barnhartvale and eggs from the farmer's market. Their dairy mix is sourced from a dairy farm in Abbotsford.
"We want to create memories with the community, we don't want to throw out a product without knowing anything about it. It's that cycle of community growth, and it's how we support each other," Bajkov said.
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While she has a degree in psychology and sociology from TRU, she left her job at the ministry of social development to join her brother-in-law Kevin Pederson to open Frozen Paddle's second location.
On the other side of the river, The Ice Cream Social held a soft open on Saturday where they offer 36 different flavours.
Co-owner Scott Bergman started the plan to open his ice cream parlour just a month ago, encouraged by his parents who own Ice Cream Express in Prince George.
He used to work for Lee's Music where he ran sound operations for Music in the Park, but Bergman said they had to lay him off because there's simply no events to run.
He was later laid off from a countertop company as operations slowed amid the pandemic.
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Although they are still waiting for signage to arrive, Bergman and his business partners, girlfriend Jaycee Elsby and her mother Margaret Temperton, decided to open the doors.
"We don't want to step on anyone's toes, there's enough ice cream to go around," Bergman said. "Our plan is to be open year-round, and regularly around 10 p.m. to get some of those late night snackers."
Their ice cream comes from Foothills Creamery in West Kelowna.
The Ice Cream Social is located at 388 Tranquille Road, across from Desert Pool and Spa. They'll be holding a grand opening on May long weekend once their signage arrives.
Both locations are takeout only, but hope to offer indoor seating when public health measures allow for it.
Check out some of the other ice cream favourites in the Thompson-Okanagan here.
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