Tell-All Thursday: Then 'til Now

Wow. We can't believe we are about to start our 2nd winter season of Four All Ice Cream. The year has flown by, but not in a steady way; we've been ebbing and flowing, flexing and adapting to every new opportunity and challenge that the wonderful world of small-batch ice cream has to offer.

 

 

Once upon a Spring 2017, we opened the doors of our Tasting Room in the old Bonnie Stuart shoe factory. Back then, we were just a team of two and little did we expect to be churning fresh ice cream weekly just to keep up with demands. We remember, after that opening weekend, walking into our tiny dairy factory attached to the Tasting Room and seeing a stack halfway to the ceiling of empty 6L ice cream tubs. Kitchener-Waterloo had let us know we were filling a gap they desperately wanted filled: better ice cream made with local ingredients and accessibility in mind.

 

 

 

So we kept on through the summer and fall building on our mission; we continued to partner with other small food businesses and farmers in our region to create seasonal flavours that reflected the wishes you all expressed in the comments of our Instagram and Facebook page. It felt amazing to communicate with our community, bring you what you asked for, and all the while connecting you to other key pieces of our food community, like our incredible stockists!  

 

 

 

Then Winter came. We were a little nervous but we decided if there was a time to be our most innovative, it was when an Ontario snow storm may not make you want to eat ice cream. That's when we launched our Online Store. We thought, if you don't want to brave the storm... We'll ship ice cream to your door step thanks to other local innovators like Eco-Courier. 

 

 

Enter Spring 2018; round two. We were ready. Our team had grown and we had a steady flow going. But who likes being too comfortable? So we decided to take an opportunity to occupy space at the new Graffiti Market in Kitchener with a Four All Cone Counter. Never intending to replace our Tasting Room, the Cone Counter served as a second retail and scooping location run by our team through the summer... and we started making our own gluten-free cones! And tacos! What!

 

 

 

Now that Winter is here once again, we're ready to shake things up. We've decided to re-focus and make sure we are serving the KW community to our full potential. That means re-dedicating our spaces; the Cone Counter has become our main retail/scooping location thanks to it's central geography between our two favourite cities and the lively community environment that the space offers our customers.

 

As for the Tasting Room, the space will be reserved for our production team to stretch their legs through the winter season. We're also tossing around the idea of developing workshops so you can come try your hand at ice cream making! (But *shh*, that's still in the works). Our catering services will also continue year-round, as well as our continuous search for stockists that share our vision, so the Tasting Room will be the place to come see what we're all about at our core. If you're interested in learning more or visiting our OG location, send us an email to book an appointment at letsconnect@fourall.ca. Come Spring 2019, the Tasting Room will re-open and lines out the door will be welcomed back with open arms!

 

Let us know what you think of where we've been & where we're headed. We love hearing your feedback - just leave us a comment on our social pages or email us.

 

Love & Ice Cream,

Four All