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With
steady growth and expansion since opening
day, the The Udder Guys! is much more than
just the flavour of the month. This gourmet
ice cream company uses fresh ingredients
in all of its premium ice cream to keep
its customers coming back for more.
The
Udder Guys have grown from a home based
business to having a manufacturing plant,
2 ice cream parlours and distribution networks
with several retailers. The company won
an award for best tasting ice cream on Vancouver
Island, which drew a lot of publicity for
them. Their ice cream looks different because
they don't use preservatives and artificial
additives. Their strawberry, for example,
is a light pink instead of bright red.

Ontario
produces 61% of Canada's ice cream.
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They
used to call their product 'All Natural',
but ran into problems when the Canadian
Food Inspection Agency notified them that
the milk they use is not considered an all-natural
product due to pasteurization process and
the re-supplementation of its vitamins.
So now they call it 'Old-Fashioned' instead.
Premium
ice cream represents about 41% of the total
dollar sales of ice cream.

At
one time The Udder Guys were wholesaling
their product to 27 stores across Canada
including a couple large chain stores. However,
the margins were too low, especially with
big low cost buyers, and right now they
cannot produce the volume necessary to make
wholesaling profitable. Hence their focus
on retail.
While
Judy doesn't have an interest in franchising,
she's considered what she calls "cloning",
where they would help someone set up a parlour
in their community suited to their location.
For her the business is about fun and making
good ice cream.
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