Guelph will soon be home to a new cool sweet treat, Rollz Ice cream.
Located in the Willow West Mall plaza on Silvercreek Parkway, owners Akshay Patel and his wife Minal look forward to opening their doors to the fresh ice cream shop on Saturday, June 10.
Rollz Ice Cream offers a unique rolled ice cream that combines Thai and Canadian dessert traditions.
“We are very excited, because this type of ice cream is still quite new to Canada. The brand is Canadian, but the ice cream is based on traditions in Thailand. Bringing Thai rolled ice cream here, we are very excited. This is a first for Guelph,” Patel said.
“When you look at this area, there aren't many ice cream places. So, that’s what drew me here. It’s a busy area with schools around. And so many people have already been curious, looking at our sign and wanting to come in.’
Patel has lived in Guelph for the last six years.
“That is why we wanted to open here. I know how much the community loves to try something new,” Patel said.
And what better time to open, Patel says, with the warm weather and hot summer season approaching.
Since the first Rollz Ice Cream shop opened in Scarborough in 2017, franchisees have popped up across the province, including the 14th location in Guelph which will offer creamy rolled ice cream, warm waffles, milkshakes and chimney cones.
Hand-crafted with fresh ingredients, ice cream rolls are said to be ‘works of art’ where customers can choose from a variety of flavours to create their own unique combination, such as a tropical twist of Guava rolled ice cream.
There are a variety of rolled ice cream flavours available including Ferrero Rocher, rose and pistachio, Nutella crunch, Netflix, orange kulfi, Bombay kulfi, mango delight, blue blizzard, birthday cake, vegan mango peach and Oreo cheesecake.
Rather than serve pre-made scooped ice cream, Rollz Ice Cream prepares each order, from start to finish, in front of the customer.
The ice cream starts with a base of fruits, candy, or other ingredients. Cream is mixed in, flattened and rolled up into ice cream rolls with additional toppings such as sprinkles, candy or fruit.
There are also many milkshake options, along with waffles, cakes and ice cream burgers.
With more than 35 flavours of ice cream on the menu, Patel says all items are made with natural ingredients, real milk, and no preservative or starch. Vegan options are also available.
“Fire rolled ice cream is popular. We use that in the base, and we mix it and spread it with the Thai roll. We then offer three free toppings such as caramel,” Patel said.
“People also love our freak shakes."
Patel says everything is made on premises, with nothing frozen or ready made.
“It's all about the freshness. And everything is prepared right in front of the customer, so they can taste watermelon or mango ice cream right in front of them. That’s what is different from other ice cream places,” Patel said.
Patel and his wife come from similar business backgrounds in India.
“We knew that coming here we wanted to do the same. This is our first time, so we are really excited,” Patel said.
“Our family in India is proud. They want to come here, but for now, they will celebrate with us through a video call.”
Patel arrived in Canada in 2017.
“My wife has lived here for the last three years. I received my master’s degree at the University of Guelph. I worked as a manufacturing engineer at Linamar for four years, and last year, I moved to Toyota in Cambridge,” Patel said.
Patel plans to continue to work at Toyota full-time, but will support his wife Minal, who will manage the ice cream shop in Guelph.
Minal says she looks forward to opening day on Saturday when free ice cream will be served to the first 50 customers.
“We are very excited. All renovations should be complete. We will have sitting area inside and a few chairs set up outside for those who want to enjoy their ice cream outside in the evenings," she said.
Patel says Rollz Ice Cream offers something for everyone.
“What I can say about Rollz Ice Cream, is that if someone is interested in different tastes, we have so many flavours to choose from, not only from India and Thailand, but everywhere,” Patel said.
“If you want to taste something new, I can assure you that you will want to come back and try something else.”
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