To taste a scoop of Neale's Sweet N' Nice Ice Cream's Guava/Passion Fruit ice cream is to be transported to the Caribbean. Each lick is luscious and lively with pink guava and hints of passion fruit that almost make it possible to envision sparkling blue water, smell the salt air and hear the noise of the beach.
"It's essentially homemade ice cream made for the masses," said Andrew McBarnett, the co-founder of Neale's Sweet N' Nice Ice Cream .
Launched in 2015, Neale's Sweet N' Nice Ice Cream has six fruit-based, all-natural ice cream flavors available in several different sizes for retail stores and restaurants. They're looking to expand their presence in Canada while moving into the U.S. and European markets.
The Family History behind an Authentic Experience
McBarnett's grandfather, Charles A. Neale, founded Neale's Sweet 'n Nice Ice Cream in the 1940s in Trinidad, using recipes he developed himself using local fruits. He'd often be found cycling around towns in the south of the island, selling coconut and mango ice cream by the scoop from his bike.
"He was originally a sugar cane farmer, and he didn't want to wait until the end of the season to get paid. He was famous for saying, 'You have expenses every day; you need income every day,' so he created an ice cream company," McBarnett said.
Neale's 12 children grew up learning how to make ice cream but the company closed after Neale's death in the 1986. Decades later, Neale's daughter Rosemarie and his grandson McBarnett, now settled in Canada, were eating ice cream made using Neale's recipe at a family reunion and decided to restart the company using his recipes.
A Premium Range filled with Caribbean Flavors
Neale's Sweet N' Nice Ice Cream premium ice cream is made with all natural ingredients, Canadian dairy cream and milk, and real fruit. Current flavors include Coconut, Mango, Pineapple Coconut, Guava/Passion Fruit, Rum n’ Raisin and Banana Chocolate.
The rich, creamy all-natural ice cream, made using no artificial ingredients, is currently available in three sizes: A 500ml for supermarkets, a 100ml for quick takeaway, and a larger 5.7 liter for food service.
Satisfying the Growing Demand for Ethnic Foods
For the past few years, people throughout Canada have fallen in love with Neale’s Sweet N' Nice Ice Cream's scoops. Demand for tropical ice cream has been increasing across Canada with smaller communities making up about 40 percent of Neale’s Sweet N’ Nice Ice Cream’s stores and 35 percent of their sales. In a recent poll more than half (57 percent) of Canadians said they were more willing to try ethnic foods than they were a few years ago and three-quarters (75 percent) like to experience other cultures through food.
After starting with coconut and mango ice cream, they expanded to additional flavors based largely on demand and customer requests (have one you want them to make? Follow them on social media (instagram: sweetnniceicecream) to learn about upcoming flavors and suggest new ones .
Customer demand is also helping to drive their growth. After being in around 50 independent stores, they grew to be in more than 250 stores at the end of 2019 and 550 stores at the end of 2020 in part due to the partnerships with major Canadian retail brands such as Sobeys, FreshCo, Metro and Loblaws. They expect to be in roughly 1,000 stores throughout Canada by the end of 2021.
With the support of the INNODELICE network
Ready to start exporting their products to the rest of the world, including Europe, the United States and Trinidad, Neale’s Sweet N' Nice Ice Cream is looking for supply chains, co-packing, and import partners. They're open to working with key partners in various ways to meet their expansion goals abroad and by growing the stores their products are available in throughout Canada.
In line with their strategic plans, they are interested in:
Finding partners to export out of Canada and present their products to retailers and Foodservice customers across the world.
Collaborating with logistics partners to move their products in the safest, most agile way within Canada, the US and across the world.
Developing their network of co-manufacturers around the world to offer customers and consumers a locally produced Caribbean experience.
How to start collaborating with Neale’s Sweet N' Nice Ice Cream?
To learn more about the Neale’s Sweet N' Nice Ice Cream brand and how to work with them in 2021 and beyond, have a look at their products on INNODELICE's BRANDS platform and reach out. We will happily put you in touch with their team and make introductions!
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ABOUT INNODELICE
Founded by former executives in the Ice Cream industry, INNODELICE aims to create a worldwide ecosystem of solutions within the frozen dessert industry. Thanks to the relationships fostered by INNODELICE, manufacturers, brands, importers, distributors and suppliers can discover, buy and sell solutions to GROW their business. These solutions include co-manufactured and branded products as well as innovative and competitive ingredients, packaging and services. Our collaboration model generates lower costs and fewer risks for our participating partners while optimising their time to market. To learn more about INNODELICE, contact Nicolas MARIE (nicolas.marie@innodelice.com), Andrea MONTREUIL (andrea.montreuil@innodelice.com) or visit www.innodelice.com.
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