In the heart of Calgary, a city known for its long winters, an artisanal ice cream shop is bringing a taste of diversity to the local food scene. Anita Ly and Tiffany To, owners of Milk Ice Cream Club, are scooping up success with their handcrafted ice creams that feature unique Asian ingredients and flavours. Since 2019, this dynamic duo has been on a mission to normalize flavours often deemed “exotic,” drawing from their Chinese and Vietnamese heritage to create nostalgic tastes that resonate with fellow children of immigrants and newcomers alike.
What is your business called and what does it do?
We’re Milk Ice Cream Club and we specialize in handcrafted ice cream with a focus on Asian ingredients & flavours.
What made you want to do this work?
We’ve had a dream of starting a business together since we were really young. That coupled with our love for quality ice cream led us to start our own artisanal ice cream business. We are especially motivated to cultivate a community of inclusivity and shared connections through our work. It always brings us joy when someone who’s only eaten “classic” or “normal” flavours their whole life is willing to try a Southeast Asian flavour like Pandan and are curious to learn more about it. It’s also very rewarding when we hear other customers tell us that our flavours remind them of home or their childhood. It’s simple, but food really does bring people together.
What problem did you want to solve with the business?
When we started Milk in 2019, the food scene wasn’t as diverse. Coming from a Chinese/Vietnamese background, we found ourselves yearning for flavours that we grew up with – we figured that others with a similar upbringing as children of immigrants, or as newcomers, must be yearning for the same thing. We wanted to normalize ingredients and flavours that were typically deemed “weird” or “exotic”.
Who are your clientele/demographics?
Anyone who loves ice cream! We have people of all ages and backgrounds coming to our scoop shop.
How does your business make money? How does it work?
Like most small businesses in the food industry, we pour our heart and soul into crafting something we hope people will like. We work hard to create quality ice cream that people want to continuously come back for and tell their friends about. As long as people continue to like delicious handcrafted ice cream we’ll be able to make our business work.
Where in the city can we find your profession?
Almost everywhere – although Calgary is very much a “winter” city, we love our ice cream and are lucky to have quite a few artisanal scoop shops.
What is the best question a prospective customer could ask a member of your profession when comparing services? Give the answer as well.
“How is your ice cream different?” – At the moment, the two of us are the production team and we are our own biggest critics. We meticulously handcraft all our ice cream in small batches. We take pride in every step, from choosing ingredients to cooking down our custard base, to churning each batch. We’re not afraid to experiment with interesting flavours like durian, salted duck yolk, and Chicago Mix but we also love to create nostalgic flavours like Dunkaroos and White Rabbit Candy. Apart from the care we put into crafting our ice cream, we always strive to foster a friendly and welcoming environment.
What is the best part about what you do? What is the worst part?
The people are the best part of what we do. We continuously get to collaborate with other amazing local businesses, meet and connect with awesome customers, and work with a team that has become family. There really is no worst part – we’re living our dream. Don’t get us wrong, it’s a lot of hard work and sacrifice but that’s with any work. We’re just blessed to be working hard and making sacrifices for something we love.
What is your favourite joke about your own profession?
We wouldn’t say it’s our favourite but we often hear “I’d be a gazillion pounds working in an ice cream shop”. It’s lowkey funny to us because if they only knew the behind the scenes work of doing your own supply runs, lifting gallons of ice cream bases daily and having little to no time to have a proper meal.
Where can we follow you?
Instagram @milk.yyc and our website
PAY IT FORWARD: What is another local business that you love?
RAW – Japanese Hand Roll Bar. They’re a new and locally owned business run by two very talented and dedicated ladies (Cindy & Sharon).
