The History of Ice
Cream in New Zealand
By Chris Newey
Snowflake
The Norton family, dairy farmers near Greymouth,
established The Riversdale Dairy in 1922, servicing
Greymouth and surrounding districts with their milk and dairy products,
delivered by horse and cart.
It was very much a family business. Laurence Norton, his wife Irene,
his brother Wallace, his father Frederick and Mother Edith, and Irene's
brother Arthur Carson, were all involved in the early years.
The business was run from a small factory/shop in front of the Norton
house in Ward Street, Cobden:
Riversdale Dairy depot, Ward St., Cobden, ca. 1922.
- Owen Norton collection, via
Shona McCahon.
Mrs & Mr Billy McNaughton with Model T
Ford delivery van in front of the Riversdale Dairy
depot, Ward St., Cobden, ca. 1922. Note milk can
in the back.
- Owen Norton collection.
Around the middle of the decade, they began producing ice cream under
the Snowflake brand.
Demand was so great that in 1928 a new, larger factory was built on Taylorville
Road, Coal Creek:
New Riversdale Dairy - Snowflake factory, Taylorville Rd., with
staff and delivery vehicles, 1928.
People, left to right: Arthur Carson (standing near Guy Snow Flake truck),
Frederick Norton; Laurence Norton; Irene Norton; Miss [..?] Horan; Jack
Horan; Billy McNaughton.
- Owen Norton collection.
Frederick Norton with horse-drawn Riversdale Dairy - Snowflake
delivery van, ca. 1928.
- Owen Norton collection.
The Snowflake Riverdale Dairy Supplies Guy truck
at the 1930 Greymouth A&P Show.
Still from newsreel film, "The Greymouth Gazette", by L. Inkster,
1930.
- Nga
Taonga Sound & Vision.
The refrigeration system was ammonia, and two of the original storage
freezers used pumice as insulation, 8 - 10 inches thick in the walls.
Before the advent of refrigerated trucks, ice cream was distributed
in 2 1/2 gallon bulk cans (for scooping) as far as Westport and Hokitika,
packed in insulated canvas bags.
Apart from cans, Snowflake produced Sixpenny Blocks, Choc Bombs,and Sixpenny
Tubs.
Later, as home refrigerators became more common, Snowflake produced take-home
Pints (round cardboard packs, then later rectangular).
After the deaths of Laurence Norton and his brother Wallace (both within
12 months), Laurence's father Frederick Norton, a baker, and brother-in-law
Arthur Carson took over the dairy farm, milk and ice cream operations.
Frederick's wife Edith was also involved in running the dairy farm, along
with Warren Barlow.
Laurence's son (Frederick's grandson) Owen Norton joined the business
in 1946, at age 15, starting as he says "at the bottom", cleaning
milk cans, cleaning stables and looking after the roundsmens' horses.
Snowflake cinema advertising (glass slide), 1940s
- West
Coast New Zealand History.
In 1947 the Riversdale milk treatment business was split off and
the operation was moved to Greymouth, leaving the Coal Creek factory
manufacturing Snowflake ice cream only.
Snowflake bought their first refrigerated trucks second-hand from the
Perfection Ice Cream Co., Christchurch, in the early 1950s.
Snowflake ice cream factory interior, ca. 1950. Right to left:
homogeniser, holding vat with cooler above, churn (beyond vat.) At
left: hand pump used for filling Sixpenny Bricks (packaging
loaded on trolley). Pumice-lined storage freezer at rear left.
- Owen Norton collection.
Snowflake Ice Cream Factory, 1953. Left to right: Frederick Norton,
Percy East, Daphne Skeets, Ken Horton, unknown, Owen Norton
- Owen Norton collection,
via Shona McCahon.
Snowflake Ice Cream truck dressed for the Royal Visit, 1953.
- Owen Norton collection, via Shona McCahon.
Owen took over the business in 1955, after his grandfather died.
Not long after, Tip Top began distributing on the West Coast, opening
up the market, which had until then been shared between Snowflake and
Apex (Christchurch).
Snowflake liked to have a bit of fun with their marketing, and in 1955,
following news of a discovery on the West Coast, it advertised Uranium
Ice Cream:
Snowflake Uranium Ice Cream advertisement, Grey River Argus,
23 November 1955
- Te
Ara – The Encyclopedia of New Zealand.
Listen to Owen explain the story on Radio
NZ National programme.
Other cheeky marketing moves included thumbing their noses at market
leader Tip Top with the launch of stick novelties called the "PP2",
and "Poppa".
Ice blocks and other stick novelties were made in moulds frozen in a
brine tank. Snowflake manufactured Joy Bars for a while, six inch bars
of chocolate-coated ice cream with a raspberry strip through the centre,
very popular, but the cost of production was quite high so they didn't
last.
Snowflake truck, 1954 Bedford, late 1950s
- Owen Norton collection.
From the late '50s, Snowflake became West Coast distributor for Birdseye
Frozen Foods (Unilever), and later Supreme Frozen Products (Timaru).
Snowflake Ice Cream display, Industries Fair, Greymouth,
1964.
- L. Inkster.
Snowflake Chippy Pot advertising, early 1960s?
- Owen Norton collection, via Shona McCahon.
Snowflake Raspberry Sundae advertisement, early 1960s.
- Owen Norton
collection.
Snowflake Raspberry Sundae lid, undated.
- Steve Williams.
Snowflake Christmas deliveries, 1970s
- Owen Norton collection, via Shona McCahon.
When Unilever launched its own Wall's brand of ice cream in the 60s,
Snowflake distributed Wall's ice cream and frozen novelties as well
as their own brand.
At its peak, Snowflake was sold over the whole of the South Island, and
into parts of the North Island.
It wasn't just the Norton family that made Snowflake such
a legend.
Warren Barlow worked for the business for 50 years,
on the dairy
farm,
and in later years as farm
manager.
His son
Kevin
Barlow worked for the company for 35 years, as Factory Manager,
and two of Kevin's sons, Warren and Patrick Barlow, also
worked for Snowflake.
Warren Barlow (left) and Kevin Barlow (right) receive recognition
for their long and valued
service to Snowflake at the 1987 NZICA
Conference held in Greymouth (Owen Norton centre).
- Owen Norton collection.
Snowflake had long been a member of the Canterbury-West Coast branch
of the NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association (NZICA). Owen Norton
had been attending conferences since 1950. and held the office of President
from 1972-1977. Together with Bob Fyfe of Tip Top, he played an important
role in helping the NZICA survive at a time when membership was down
and industry unity was weakened.
Through his long-time involvement with the NZICA, and other
business activities, Owen maintained good personal and
business relationships
with most of the other ice cream manufacturers around the country.
These were strengthened when Westland Snowflake hosted
the annual NZICA Conference
in Greymouth in 1987. |
Back to
Ice Cream Brands from the Past.
