SUMMERSIDE – What makes the perfect sundae? Which flavours mix and match together to reach the broadest audience while delighting taste buds?
These are questions many dairy bar owners and employees are asking themselves as they plan for the Month of Sundaes campaign coming to the Island this June.
“It’s going to be a lot of trial and error. But there is a lot of room for creativity without making it too expensive and not too big and messy,” said Chrysta Campbell, manager of Kool Breeze Ice Cream Barn.
The popular dairy barn is one of multiple participating in the campaign, run by media and marketing company, Minotaur Creative.
“We're still only getting it going, but we already have half of the dairy bars in Prince County on board. We're in active communication with a number of others and we hope to have every single one of them participating by the time we close registration. We'll be announcing participants over the next few weeks, it'll be fun to see the map fill up with dairy bars,” explained Brendan Henry, creative director of Minotaur Creative.
A Month of Sundaes, which is preparing to launch, has been designed to celebrate the dairy industry on P.E.I., draw attention to the Island’s dairy bars and kick off the summer with a sundae contest. Throughout June, participating dairy bars will feature a Month of Sundaes sundae on their menu. Customers can vote for their favourite with regular drawings from those voters for prize giveaways. The winning dairy bar and sundae will be announced at the end of the month, and the location will be decorated and a celebration with be had to give out a final prize to a voter who voted for the winner.
Henry and other collaborators are working to determine an entry price for participating dairy bars and are using sponsors of the campaign to help keep costs down.
“We'll be expanding across the Island for the event next year, but we wanted to focus on the heart of P.E.I.'s dairy bar region for our launching year.”
Henry was presented with the idea after Ken Meister, of Holman’s Ice Cream Parlour introduced him to Sarah Jendrick.
“I had mentioned to Ken the idea of a campaign, similar to one that already exists, because ice cream was something I could really get into. I know my kids are excited and I think it will really be something for people of all ages,” said Jendrick.
Campbell is looking forward to letting her creative side free to create the sundae.
“Not many jobs have room for this level of creativity. I’m really looking forward to it. So far, we’ve tried a few combinations and we have until June to nail it down. But I don’t want to overthink it. We don’t want to have something too similar to what other participants will have. I’m sure there will be a guideline to follow. I think we will have a bit more flexibility in making it for customers, altering it for dietary restrictions or allergies.”
She’s hoping the establishment’s multiple lactose free options will set them apart.
Campbell is also excited about the opportunity to showcase the Island dairy industry and its producer, ADL.
“That’s my favourite part. Nothing is like the local product circulating on the Island and it’s a huge show of support to local producers and communities.”
Meister agrees.
“The Summerside and Prince County areas are well known for their dairy bars and this is a great way to highlight that, locally and through tourism.
“It’s a fun challenge and a great way to get people to try new things,” he said.
“We’re really going to focus on our homemade ice cream while forming a unique sundae creation.”
