Kawartha Dairy opens to crowds at new Burlington location

Crowds of happy people lined up for an ice cream cone at Burlington’s Kawartha Dairy.

The Fairview Street location was busy from 11 a.m. on, according to Dana Somerville, vice president of marketing and customer experience with the popular dairy. Crowds lined up nearly out the door to take in a cone, but it was decisions-decisions for most – what flavour of the 45 hard-scooped ice creams will it be?

Monday’s bright sunny skies, warm weather and a holiday for the school children helped boost opening day numbers.

Burlington marks the eleventh Kawartha Dairy location in the province. The last to open was in Newmarket in 2018.

“We’ve been busy all day, and expect it will continue,” said Somerville. “There was quite a buzz on social media and we’re happy to be here.”

She said Kawartha remains especially popular amongst people, in part because of the nostalgia of the brand from their northern home location in Bobcaygeon. People associate cottage country with the well-known ice cream brand.

Kawartha Dairy was established in 1937 by Jack and Ila Crowe, and has remained a family owned dairy business.

Somerville said all of the milk and cream used in the products is done within a day of it arriving in Bobcaygeon. “So you know you’re getting the freshest there is,” she said.

Kawartha employs 26 people at its new location, which features murals for folks to pose in front of, bright open windows, seating area with tables and outdoor benches.

People came from all over for opening day so they could try some of the latest Kawartha flavours such as grape, nanaimo bar and maple.

Somerville said all 45 flavours of ice cream available for cones or bowls are also available for take-out. They can also be used to create your own milkshake combination.

An official ribbon-cutting is being planned to make things official sometime this spring.