Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan

Success Stories

Jerry's Artisan Ice Creams (What's Your Flavour?)
EPC Ocean Ice Cream Inc.

Jerry’s Food Emporium (JFE) opened its doors in Saskatoon in 1997. Over the next ten years, demand for the restaurant’s natural, locally-made ice creams, gelatos, sorbets, frozen yogurts, and ice cream cakes and novelties outgrew supply. By 2006, JFE also had a strong hold on the foodservice industry market, supplying over 100 flavours to local restaurants.

Co-owners Jerry Kristian and Elyse I. Proulx-Cullen set their sights on the premium retail grocery market, and formed a sister company called EPC Ocean Ice Cream Inc. (EPCO) to develop, manufacture, and market the Jerry’s Artisan Ice Creams products. “It became clear to us,” explains Proulx-Cullen, “that we needed to focus our core competencies, and that we needed to invest in a facility that would allow us to capture this opportunity.”

After intensive research, which included tours of gelato plants in Italy to determine best processes and production volume for the ice creams, plans were drawn up for a production facility. Exposure to Italian recipes and production methods allowed EPCO to purchase the most efficient equipment for development of innovative products.

Commitments came from the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan: funding for the ice cream development project was through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development in Saskatchewan (CARDS) program; funding for training and research and development on gelato manufacturing equipment came from the Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Saskatchewan (ACAAFS) program.

Based on more than ten years of customer feedback at the restaurant, Proulx-Cullen says they were confident as to which products would do well in grocery stores. “We had a big client in mind, Saskatoon Federated Co-op, and we presented them with the ones we thought would be number one sellers. The cakes are a huge seller in this city, and people were asking us to have them available elsewhere. So, we decided on our premium ice cream cakes and half litre containers of gelato.”

One reason that Co-op agreed to carry the products, says Proulx-Cullen, is because EPCO uses Saskatchewan ingredients whenever possible, including haskap (blue honeysuckle) berries and sour cherries. “We look for local product first. One is the Saskatchewan Carmine Jewel sour cherry. The Fieldberry Sorbet uses three locally-grown fruits: strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Of course, we’ll never grow chocolate in Saskatchewan, but we have a local supplier. So, even if the product doesn’t come from Saskatchewan, our suppliers do.”

Three gelatos, two sorbets, and eight Classic and Signature ice cream cakes were chosen for the grocery market, and EPCO began the lengthy process of developing products up to commercialization. Requirements included nutritional analyses, the creation of packaging and point-of-sales materials, and meeting certification requirements for shelf life labeling, standard labeling, and product identification and tracking. Though the flavours were already proven successes, recipe development was still necessary.

“It’s one thing to make cakes,” says Proulx-Cullen. “It’s another to start distributing them through a retailer that you don’t control. The ice creams are all-natural, no additives or preservatives, so we had to test how that would hold up in a grocery store as opposed to the restaurant.”

Product development lasted 18-months. Actual product output, however, was very quick. “We received the equipment in April,” says Proulx-Cullen, “and launched in May.”

Since the launch, sales have tripled, and in June, Saskatoon Co-op invited Jerry’s Artisan Ice Creams products into its third grocery store. In response to customer demand, a no-sugar-added vanilla ice cream was recently launched. Proulx-Cullen says success in Saskatoon has given EPCO a solid footing on which to expand across the province and into the rest of the country. “Right now we’re a provincial facility. In the long term, we are looking to grow to become a federal plant. That’s the ultimate goal.”

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	Success Stories Jerry's Artisan Ice Creams (What's Your Flavour?) EPC Ocean Ice Cream Inc. Jerry’s Food Emporium (JFE) opened its doors in Saskatoon in 1997. Over the next ten years, demand for the restaurant’s natural, locally-made ice creams, gelatos, sorbets, frozen yogurts, and ice cream cakes and novelties outgrew supply. By 2006, JFE also had a strong hold on the foodservice industry market, supplying over 100 flavours to local restaurants. Co-owners Jerry Kristian and Elyse I. Proulx-Cullen set their sights on the premium retail grocery market, and formed a sister company called EPC Ocean Ice Cream Inc. (EPCO) to develop, manufacture, and market the Jerry’s Artisan Ice Creams products. “It became clear to us,” explains Proulx-Cullen, “that we needed to focus our core competencies, and that we needed to invest in a facility that would allow us to capture this opportunity.” After intensive research, which included tours of gelato plants in Italy to determine best processes and production volume for the ice creams, plans were drawn up for a production facility. Exposure to Italian recipes and production methods allowed EPCO to purchase the most efficient equipment for development of innovative products. Commitments came from the Agriculture Council of Saskatchewan: funding for the ice cream development project was through Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada’s Canadian Adaptation and Rural Development in Saskatchewan (CARDS) program; funding for training and research and development on gelato manufacturing equipment came from the Advancing Canadian Agriculture and Agri-Food Saskatchewan (ACAAFS) program. Based on more than ten years of customer feedback at the restaurant, Proulx-Cullen says they were confident as to which products would do well in grocery stores. “We had a big client in mind, Saskatoon Federated Co-op, and we presented them with the ones we thought would be number one sellers. The cakes are a huge seller in this city, and people were asking us to have them available elsewhere. So, we decided on our premium ice cream cakes and half litre containers of gelato.” One reason that Co-op agreed to carry the products, says Proulx-Cullen, is because EPCO uses Saskatchewan ingredients whenever possible, including haskap (blue honeysuckle) berries and sour cherries. “We look for local product first. One is the Saskatchewan Carmine Jewel sour cherry. The Fieldberry Sorbet uses three locally-grown fruits: strawberries, raspberries, and blueberries. Of course, we’ll never grow chocolate in Saskatchewan, but we have a local supplier. So, even if the product doesn’t come from Saskatchewan, our suppliers do.” Three gelatos, two sorbets, and eight Classic and Signature ice cream cakes were chosen for the grocery market, and EPCO began the lengthy process of developing products up to commercialization. Requirements included nutritional analyses, the creation of packaging and point-of-sales materials, and meeting certification requirements for shelf life labeling, standard labeling, and product identification and tracking. Though the flavours were already proven successes, recipe development was still necessary. “It’s one thing to make cakes,” says Proulx-Cullen. “It’s another to start distributing them through a retailer that you don’t control. The ice creams are all-natural, no additives or preservatives, so we had to test how that would hold up in a grocery store as opposed to the restaurant.” Product development lasted 18-months. Actual product output, however, was very quick. “We received the equipment in April,” says Proulx-Cullen, “and launched in May.” Since the launch, sales have tripled, and in June, Saskatoon Co-op invited Jerry’s Artisan Ice Creams products into its third grocery store. In response to customer demand, a no-sugar-added vanilla ice cream was recently launched. Proulx-Cullen says success in Saskatoon has given EPCO a solid footing on which to expand across the province and into the rest of the country. “Right now we’re a provincial facility. In the long term, we are looking to grow to become a federal plant. That’s the ultimate goal.” <<Back to success stories	Contribution Guidelines For a printable version of the contribution guidelines for ACAAFS, please click here (PDF).


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