Big scoop: Victoria ice cream shop worried about organic whipped cream shortage

A Victoria ice cream shop says supply shortages mean it's going dairy-free when it comes to whipping cream.

For the past decade, Cold Comfort has been a popular spot for handcrafted ice cream. The shop advertises organic whipping cream but recently said 70 per cent of its products are dairy-free.

The reason, owner Autumn Maxwell said, is a shortage of high buttermilk fat organic whipping cream.

"I anticipate that [70 per cent] number to grow over the next few weeks," Maxwell told All Points West's Michael Tymchuk."My biggest concern is potentially losing those customers that supported me when I was just starting out.

"I'm just becoming a little more limited in what I can do."

The B.C. Dairy Association says there are five processors in the province that produce organic milk. Only Avalon Dairy in Burnaby produces high fat content products like whipping cream.

Avalon's Russ Rimmer said they are producing less of those products.

Feeding the cows a "natural" grazing diet instead of feeding them dried feed in a barn, Rimmer explained, leads to less fat in their milk. That's a seasonal issue as the cows adjust to a spring diet.

The other issue is demand for low-fat milk, like skim and one per cent, is down. When dairies make skim and one-percent milk, they remove the fat which goes into high-fat products like whipping cream.

"The trend, and whether it's been driven by the keto diet or whateveror just simply the great taste of high fat milk, we're now suffering an imbalance," Rimmer said."Everything we process we have to sell. We can't simply put skim milk off to theside and flush it down the toilet and take the cream.

"That's just financial suicide and that's certainly not going to help the sewer system either."

Rimmer said he is working with the B.C. Milk Marketing Board for a long range solution to increase consumer demand for low-fat milk products.

Until then, ice cream eaters who love organic high-fat whipping cream will simply have to chill.

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