{"id":1600146,"date":"2020-07-15T16:08:35","date_gmt":"2020-07-15T20:08:35","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/?p=1600146"},"modified":"2020-07-15T16:08:35","modified_gmt":"2020-07-15T20:08:35","slug":"shine-a-light-on-neales-sweet-n-nice-ice-cream","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/divine.ca\/en\/shine-a-light-on-neales-sweet-n-nice-ice-cream\/","title":{"rendered":"Shine a Light On: Neale\u2019s Sweet N Nice Ice Cream"},"content":{"rendered":"

Neale\u2019s Sweet N Nice is not only a family business<\/a>, it\u2019s a legacy.\u00a0 To understand the story behind the brand, you have to know who Charles A. Neale was.\u00a0 He founded the brand in Trinidad in the 1940s. Everything in the business today revolves around his recipes, his knowledge and his legacy.\u00a0 He is at the heart of the brand even though he passed away in the late 1980s.\u00a0 The brand enjoyed a resurgence in 2013. Rosemarie Wilson, one of \u00a0Neale\u2019s 12 children, honours her father with every batch of Sweet N Nice Ice Cream that she creates.\u00a0 Sweet N Nice is Park is part of who Rosemarie is and not just part of her present, it\u2019s a big part of her childhood as well.<\/p>\n

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\u201cWhen we used to come home from school in the evening, the first thing we did was have cake and ice cream or any of the sweet treats that my mom would bake. My father used to always make sure that there was container of ice cream in the freezer just for us.\u201d<\/p><\/blockquote>\n

The business is a labour of love.\u00a0 Rosemarie and her nephew Andrew McBarnett are at the helm, but they have family support. Some help with the website and others help by getting the word out about the product.\u00a0 Rosemarie prefers to be in the background, but with the success of Sweet N Nice, that is becoming more difficult. We had a chance to learn more about the black owned family business and get Rosemarie\u2019s perspective on what you need to do if you are starting a business of your own.<\/p>\n

The Canadian story of Sweet N Nice began at a family reunion.\u00a0 Talk us through how an idea transformed into a business?<\/h3>\n

Prior to my coming to Canada, I was making and selling ice cream.\u00a0 About 6 months before my dad passed away, things were pretty tough for me, financially.\u00a0 My husband and I chatted and thought why not make ice cream the way that my father used to and that would help sustain our family. That was what we did before we moved to Canada.\u00a0 What was beautiful was that a lot of people remembered my dad.\u00a0 When we would go to different areas and call out Sweet N Nice, people would come out and talk about him.\u00a0 His memory and the ice cream business that he owned never actually died.\u00a0 It still resonated with people.\u00a0 People that ate his ice cream as kids had their own families and it was a continuation of that heritage.<\/p>\n

When I came to Canada, my nephews threw out the idea at a reunion.\u00a0 I remember making two flavours [mango and coconut] for them to bring out to people to see if there was interest.\u00a0 The reception was so great that we thought we had a real shot in the Canadian market.\u00a0 We started the research and development at Guelph University and made samples at home.\u00a0 To test the market, we started with Mom & Pop shops.\u00a0 There was a lot of interest so we decided to expand and the only question that we had was should we stay small?\u00a0 One of my nephews said, \u201cNo, we go big or we go home.\u201d<\/p>\n

We didn\u2019t have the capital to go forward but we decided to start with however much each of us had [to contribute].\u00a0 We wanted to see where this dream and our desire to have this family legacy expand and grow would take us.\u00a0 Sweet N Nice started with a leap of faith and we kept making baby steps until we got to where we are today.<\/p>\n

What is your role in the company and how did watching your father prepare you for that role?<\/h3>\n

My dad knew that I was curious and taught me everything about business.\u00a0 I was always around, looking at what he was doing and asking questions.\u00a0 I learned a lot on the product side of the business and how you deal with people because he was a very principled man.\u00a0 He never did things half-way.\u00a0 I learned how to deal with the public because I would go with him when he would buy the ingredients and he would explain how to buy them.<\/p>\n

I learned a lot of the administrative part of the business as well.\u00a0 He taught me how to do book-keeping when I was very small.\u00a0 I do all of the flavour creation and all of the administration for the business; everything from invoicing to paying the bills, doing the inventory and dealing with the manufacturers.\u00a0 My day is packed.\u00a0 Andrew [my nephew] really is the one with the vision to expand the business.\u00a0 I tell him that I love him, and that I don\u2019t question him, but I have to worry about paying the bills and the cash flow.\u00a0 Somebody has to have the vision to move the business forward.<\/p>\n

Tell us the process that goes into developing new flavours for Sweet N Nice?<\/h3>\n