Ice Cream Vans
The Brits are fond of their ice cream vans. These are basically the same types of ice cream trucks that are found here in North America. Only in England they are called vans.
There are two types of ice cream vans in the United Kingdom. The hard van is only equipped with a freezer sells ice cream that must be scooped from a van. The soft van has soft-serve ice cream and equipment for making Screwballs.
A screwball is a particularly British ice cream treat that first appeared in the seventies. The traditional Screwball consists of a cone of soft raspberry ripple ice cream that is served in a conical plastic cup. At the b9ttom of the cone is a gumball. Screwballs are now available in cherry, lemon and blue raspberry flavours as well. The Two Screwball cone has two gumballs at the bottom.
As the weather in England is not always that hot most of these ice cream vans also sell other things such as burgers, hot dogs, chips, sodas and crisps (potato chips.)
A popular type of ice cream van in England is called Mr. Whippy’s. This truck sells super soft ice cream and is known for playing tinny musical versions of the ancient English tune “Greensleeves.” As many people find the tunes annoying the ice cream vans are not allowed in certain areas of town and in some other areas they may only play their tunes between certain hours.
Another type of van that is often seen trundling down streets is Mr. Yummy. Most ice cream vans sell the same type of products.
One of the leading manufacturers of Ice Cream vans in England is Whitby Morrison who started making them in the early sixties. These are the squatter models made of fibreglass that look like SUV’s. They are quite different looking than the big white trucks that you see in North America.
This soft ice cream business is very competitive in the United Kingdom as there are no designated business areas and heat waves are far and few between. There are many news stories about Mr. Whippy trucks fighting with Mr. Yummy trucks to get the best spots.
Some U.K. ice cream vendors have gotten around bad weather by making their businesses vintage catering trucks. A Good example is Daisy the Vintage Ice Cream Van in Cotswold that is stocked with traditional flavours such as Raspberry Ripple and butterscotch but also with designer flavours that would appeal to the likes of Prince Charles such as Elderflower, Blood Orange, Pams and Pink Champagne.