Far from being affected by inflation and the rise in diesel, Quebec’s mobile dairy bars are running at full speed this summer. More numerous than ever, the customers do not shun their pleasure, even if the “soft” costs a little more expensive.
The itinerant merchants who sell frozen treats and soft creams by the ton in the Belle Province are far from being on the verge of death, contrary to what we have been able to observe for several months in certain large urban centers of the United States.
Several major American media have painted a rather gloomy portrait of this industry by reporting on the difficulties of merchants in New York, Boston and Los Angeles who are struggling to break even due to a general increase in the cost of raw materials and fuel. . Some openly think about giving up everything.
In the New York Times, the director of the North American Ice Cream Association even hinted that ice cream trucks were becoming a ‘thing of the past’
The “manna” for two years
The newspaper contacted a dozen ice cream parlors across Quebec. The conclusion is unanimous: no one experiences such setbacks. It’s even quite the opposite.
Martin Brown, who has been in the business for 37 years in Quebec, says he has achieved the best sales figures of his career in the past two years, despite the health crisis and the cancellation of many events and festivals in 2020 and in 2021. Since the pandemic, it’s “manna”, he summarizes.
Photo Jean-Luc Lavallee
Martin Brown, entrepreneur (right), owns the Plaisirs glacés and Le Brise-Glace trucks in Quebec City. He has been working in the business for 37 years.
“There are restaurants which were closed and which ate the slap but us, since it is an external service, there is nothing which prevented us from making business. I tell you, it’s madness. The demand is extremely strong, we are forced to refuse contracts, ”says the man who owns the Le Brise-Glace and Plaisirs glacés trucks as well as a truck permanently parked at the Miller Zoo, in Beauce.
On the South Shore of Montreal, Nathalie Savoie essentially holds the same speech, although the year 2020 has been more difficult for her. “But when it resumed last year, in 2021, it was my best year for 18 years”, continues the owner of the Boule et crème dodo and Crème Pop’s trucks in Chambly.
Courtesy picture
Crème Pop’s, this mobile dairy bar in Chambly, also attracts customers.
Slight price increase
Inflation has forced most merchants to increase their prices by 25 or 50 cents for a small cone of soft cream, which generally sells for between $3.75 and $4.25. Not enough to drive customers away. “It’s a happiness that we pay ourselves without calculating. I lost some customers but I regained some […]. It’s a growing industry. It’s going very well, we’re very happy, ”adds Ms. Savoie.
“It is certain that our ingredients have increased, we will not hide it. The other issue is the price of the containers, the straws. There is a shortage of compostable straws. We have also increased our prices for the consumer but it remains affordable, ”observes Mélanie Leclerc, from Cornet on the run, in Saint-Valérien-de-Milton.
Additionally, those attending many private events charge higher travel costs to business customers to cover their fuel expenses.
Better paid employees to counter the shortage
The labor shortage is also affecting ice cream vendors, who are forced to offer increasingly attractive salaries to attract employees and put expansion projects on hold.
The base hourly rate of $20, well above the minimum wage of $14.25, is becoming more common. By adding tips, employees manage to double their salary and sometimes even more, says Martin Brown, who owns three trucks in the Quebec region.
$45/hour with tip
“The personnel problem, we also saw it, but I didn’t have too much trouble finding one,” he says, thanks to his strong arguments. “I tell them: ‘You’re going to show up with empty pockets, you’re going to leave with full pockets.’ We give $20 but we guarantee they’ll make a minimum of $30 with the tip, but they exceed that. The average is $45 an hour. »
In the regions, recruitment is sometimes more difficult. La Chocolaterie Beljade, in Amqui, launched the “Molle mobile” in the midst of a pandemic. The success was instantaneous. Several villages in Bas-Saint-Laurent rolled out the red carpet for him by offering him a free permit. He walks the streets the old-fashioned way, and people rush to his truck when they hear his music.
Daniel Savard
Beljade Chocolate Factory
“In the big centers, you can’t do that anymore, but here, it’s still possible, says Daniel Savard. There are small villages that don’t have a dairy bar so when they see me coming, they take soft cream! It’s just the [rareté] of labor that keeps me from having another ice cream truck or two. »
On the steps of the church.
The enthusiasm in the region is undeniable. The owner of the dairy bar Le Frisson, in Saint-Gervais, has also been all the rage for seven years with her mobile unit on a trailer, in the county of Bellechasse.
“The villages are calling me. I walk everywhere, I park in churchyards and it’s going very well. It looks like I’m recreating social in the village so that people meet and chat. Sometimes they can queue for an hour and then they have a big smile! says Michelle Asselin.