Joe’s Ice Cream

Joe’s Ice Cream is an ice cream manufacturer based in Swansea.

Joe’s Ice Cream
ice cream and ice cream parlour
IndustryIce cream parlour/cafe/coffee shop
FoundedBrynmill, Swansea, Wales (1922)
FounderJoe Cascarini
HeadquartersUK,
Swansea
,
Wales
Number of locations
2
Area served
Wales
ProductsIce cream
Websitewww.joes-icecream.com

Background

The business was established by Luigi Cascarini who immigrated to Wales from Italy. He planned to work his way through Europe and sail to America but boarded a coal steamer leaving Le Havre for Swansea and decided to remain there. Cascarini initially found work as an organ grinder but opened a general food shop on the High Street in Swansea after securing a loan from an Italian friend. He made his own ice cream in the shop and would open very early in the morning to serve workers, including those working at the munitions factory in Bridgend.[1][2]

Cascarini had six children and each of them established a shop in Swansea. His eldest son Joe decided to concentrate solely on producing ice cream and established his shop on Saint Helen’s Road, Brynmill in 1922. The shop made ice cream on the premises, producing a vanilla flavour to Joe’s own recipe which comprised fresh milk, sugar and cornflour. His grandson Rico Cascarini worked in the shop from the age of 14 and commented that after World War II, Joe changed the recipe to include only dairy produce:[1]

Joe's Ice Cream

"Milk is milk to some people, but there are 40 different types, each one with its own individual characteristics and tastes....Joe blended them until he found the taste he wanted. He used five different ones. People usually use two, with cream."

The other ingredients are sugar, stabiliser and natural vanilla extract.[1]

Brand development

The original product is a parlour ice cream and it has to be eaten on the day of purchase. It cannot be frozen because it produces powder crystals and turns into a hard block. Therefore, during the 1990s the company developed a soft scoop ice cream using fresh milk, skimmed milk powder, double cream, sugar, dextrose and egg yolk. This enables it to be kept in the freezer.[1]

The soft scoop ice cream has been developed into numerous flavours including cappuccino, mint choc chip, strawberry swirl and more exotic flavours, such as Turkish Delight, Tuscan cassata (a zabaglione-flavoured ice-cream with Marsala wine and mixed fruit), and a seasonal Christmas pudding ice cream.[1]

The ice cream uses milk and cream from Wales, while the chocolate and eggs come from Belgium.[1]

Expansion

The company still has the original ice cream parlour on Saint Helen’s Road and opened a parlour in Mumbles.

According to Rico Cascarini the company considers itself to be an artisan producer and is therefore focused on quality rather than quantity:[1]

"We're not production managers, we're artisans....I like to think of us being like a little shop in Italy, where the father's making the ice-cream and the mother's selling it. We make it, we sell it, and if people don't like it they don't have to write to head office, they just get on the phone."

References
  1. "The Independent, The Ice Cream of Italy in the Heart of Wales". 23 July 2020.
  2. "Food Innovation Wales, Joe's Ice Cream". 23 July 2020.

Further reading

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