31st October 2017
New Zealand’s Oldest Ice Cream Turns
90
New Zealand’s oldest ice cream maker and a
Hawke’s Bay icon is celebrating 90 years in
business.
Rush Munro’s Ice Cream is proud to be using
the same trusty recipes that its founder Frederick Rush
Munro created 90 years ago.
Rush Munro’s General Manager
Tom O’Sullivan says the celebration is an exciting time in
Rush Munro’s history.
“Most people who were raised and
live in Hawke’s Bay have fond memories of the iconic Rush
Munro’s Parlour with the fish ponds and gardens. We
welcome people to share their stories and get excited about
an ice cream that represents everything Hawke’s
Bay.”
The Rush Munro’s story began in 1926, when
English born founder, Frederick Charles Rush Munro set up
shop, with his wife Catherine in Hastings.
The business
has always been privately owned and had two other owners
John Caulton and Alastair McSporran before local grower and
exporter John Bostock bought Rush Munro’s in 2001.
Over
the last decade John Bostock has helped successfully spread
Rush Munro’s ice cream throughout the country into
supermarkets, cafes, restaurants and ice cream parlours and
has played a big role in growing the iconic Rush Munro’s
brand.
“We are very proud of Rush Munro’s history. The
ice cream represents Hawke’s Bay with many of the
ingredients being fresh produce from local suppliers. It is
100 percent natural and we still use the same recipes that
were crafted by Frederick Rush Munro 90 years ago,” said
Mr Bostock.
Mr Bostock says the strawberries come from the
Strawberry Patch, the chocolate is made by Silky Oak, the
coffee is Bay Espresso and the manuka honey comes from
Arataki Honey.
“We ensure that we use local suppliers
where we can. The heritage is important to the Rush
Munro’s brand and we are proud to only use real fruit and
natural ingredients.”
Rush Munro’s Factory Manager,
Graham Copp has been making the Rush Munro’s ice cream for
the past 13 years and says the recipes are fundamentally the
same, just tweaked slightly.
“There are just six
ingredients in Rush Munro’s Ice Cream including milk,
cream, sugar, egg yolk, gelatin and whatever the natural
flavour is whether it be strawberries, chocolate or
Feijoa,” Mr Copp said.
A unique point of difference for
Rush Munro’s is that the ice cream is still batch churned
and has been for the past 90 years.
“The batch churning
means we can only make one batch at a time, so it takes
longer. We also do everything by hand without a lot of
machinery. So we physically pour all the ingredients into
the ice cream. For example we peel the bananas, pulp fruit
and make all our own syrups. There is certainly a lot of
love that goes into Rush Munro’s,” Mr Copp said.
There
are currently 27 Rush Munro’s flavours, but it’s the
trusty traditionals, which are still the big
sellers.
“Vanilla Bean is the most popular, then Maple
and Walnut, Passionfruit, Hokey Pokey and Feijoa.”
As
part of the 90 year celebrations, Rush Munro’s is running
a competition where Hawke’s Bay residents can create their
90 Year Birthday Flavour.
Rush Munro’s is celebrating
its birthday on the 19th November at the garden parlour and
in the lead up to the party the ice cream maker has plenty
of fun activities planned – including a week where 90+ year
olds eat for free, 90 litres of ice cream will be given away
and there will be 90 cent discounts on ice creams.
A
70-year love affair with Rush Munro’s
Three friends who
enjoyed Rush Munro’s ice cream together at primary school,
still make weekly trips to the Garden Parlour, more than 70
years on.
Not much has changed in that time, except
they’ve switched bikes for family vehicles.
At 75, Lloyd
Singleton is the youngest of the group – he and friends
David Keys (78) and Paul Jones (79) have been mates their
whole lives.
Through primary, high school and their
working years a Rush Munro’s ice cream cone has been a well
deserved “treat” – one they have enjoyed more in retirement
than ever before.
Each Tuesday afternoon at the same time,
whether summer or winter, you will find them around a table
in the garden – shooting the breeze, with ice cream cones in
hand.
“We come so often now we only have to ask for ‘the
regular’ and the girls know our order,” said Mr Singleton,
who rarely strays from his favourite Rum and
Raisin.
“David’s a strawberry man and Paul hasn’t
changed from Hokey Pokey since he was seven years old – the
flavours taste the same as they always did.”
The friends
played cricket together, and later golf, but eating ice
cream is one pastime that’s endured throughout the
years.
A trip to Rush Munro’s Garden Parlour held
different memories as they aged, but the surrounds and the
ice cream itself remain much the same.
“We have all been
here with our children, and I bring my grand daughter comes
to Rush Munro’s every time she comes back to Hawke’s Bay
so there’s quite a strong connection for us,” said Mr
Jones.
“Lots of great memories, it was a real treat when
we were young, I would ride down with my parents, it really
was something special and it still
is.
Ends