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Fire disaster didn’t melt Chapman’s ice-cream dreams

The family behind the iconic Canadian company discusses how they went from four workers and two old trucks to over 280 products and over 800 employees

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Chapman’s ice cream is a staple in many Canadian family homes, but few know the almost impossible challenges the founders overcame.

Foresight and a dogged loyalty to their community and their hundreds of employees, as well as to Canada, lie behind the successful family enterprise established in 1973 by David and Penny Chapman.

When a welder’s spark destroyed their factory in 2009, they were able to resume production within months, even as competitors were lining up to take their place in the frozen section of supermarkets. But business interruption insurance, inventory in a separate warehouse and ensuring they were not overextended on credit helped them save the business, along with some equipment bought from an insolvent U.S. ice cream company, ironically having a fire sale.

Here, the family collaborates on sharing the history of their family’s relentless tenacity, and what made them pledge to never borrow money again.

How did Chapman’s become established with the first generation in your family?

“The Chapman’s journey started in 1973 when David and Penny Chapman moved from Toronto into rooms above the old creamery in Markdale, Ontario, to start their family business.

Cleaning and renovating for a full year before opening, David and Penny started with four employees and a couple of old trucks.

Launching 15 flavours of ‘exotic’ ice cream, like Neapolitan and Orange Pineapple, the Chapmans decided to launch a new ice cream business model, focusing solely on retail. Many of these 15 classic flavours are still available today.”

What were those first years like?

“It was tough in the early days. The creamery was in rough shape, but Penny and David knew they had what it takes to make it work.

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Making the ice cream, loading the trucks, calling stores for orders, no job was too small for David and Penny.

With a philosophy to always make the consumer a priority, the Chapman’s slowly but surely added to their portfolio of flavours and product lines and expanded to more and more retailers.”

What is it about Chapman’s that is unique and special to Canada?

We are a Canadian owned and operated company, and we do not sell our products anywhere else outside of the country. It has always been a top priority of ours to support the Canadian dairy farmer and as many of our other ingredients are also sourced in Canada as possible.

When a 10-year-old wrote Penny Chapman saying he couldn’t eat ice cream because of his peanut allergies, we knew we had to do something. That was how we began developing ice cream to accommodate people with allergies. Today we have many products that people with allergies can enjoy safely.

When Penny and David started in 1973, they could never imagine that their business would grow to producing over 280 different types of products and employing over 800 people. David and Penny Chapman (CEO and president) still come in to work every day, along with their son Ashley, who is the COO.”

As the business has grown over the years, how has the family become involved?

“David and Penny Chapman have always been involved in all aspects of the business – flavour selection, machine maintenance, financial planning.

As the business continued to grow, [their son] Ashley Chapman joined the business in 2008. Throughout the years, Ashley took one of the leading roles within the company and is now the chief operating officer. Ashley’s wife Lesya has been the marketing manager of the company since 2020.”

Has the business had financial advisors?

“Interestingly enough, in the late seventies, things were tight, and expenses were piling up.

David Chapman booked an appointment with the local manager at the [bank] to try and borrow $10,000. It was a short meeting. … The bank manager said that loaning Chapman’s Ice Cream money was way too risky.

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At that point, David and Penny Chapman decided never to borrow money from the bank again. These days, the Chapman family has a small group of trusted financial advisors, but still refrain from borrowing money from any financial institutions.”

How is the youngest generation involved in the business?

“At this point, the youngest generation is still in elementary school! While the family business is certainly interesting to the youngest generation of Chapman’s, you can never tell what interests they will have in later life.

That said, helping their mother with product photoshoots and participating in ice cream tastings is a lot of fun.”

Responses have been edited for clarity and length.

 

 

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