At an early age, Conor got training in kitchens and fell in love with food, and making food for others. He stayed in the restaurant and food industry for 15 years, so when the pandemic hit and we were locked down, he had time to experiment and create something new in his home kitchen.

The world, both close to home and far and wide, seemed like it really needed a bit of joy at that time, and the most joyful thing Conor could think to make was ice cream. He set to work learning everything he could from books, the internet, and good old trial and error. The first batches were made with nothing more than a whisk and a bowl in his small fridge freezer, and the process caught his imagination enough that a churning machine was soon acquired.

One of the main things that made Conor interested in learning to make amazing ice cream was that he was always searching for flavours that didn’t seem to exist, like Custard & Blueberries, and he wanted to be able to make them for himself. As Conor was creating new recipes and making little batches of ice cream, Alexis was photographing the process and the results (the lockdown keeping them both home/off work) and sharing all of it on social media. It wasn’t long before people were asking how they could get their hands on some of Conor’s ice cream. 

After a great reception by the few people following along on social media the question was raised, “are we going to make this available to our community”? After a bit of back and forth Conor and Alexis were bolstered by a few folks who had tried our experiments and new passion project. Work began to get a new Ice Cream Business in Canmore. 

So in Spring of 2021 Lovely Ice Cream was started. We found a wonderful partner in STONEWATERS, who we worked with to find a space to put our little cart to sell to the community. We found a great partner in the Co+Kitchen to find a home for our production kitchen. All that was left was the fun work of making ice cream and getting to you.

Now we have a pickup location open year round inside Alexis’ portrait studio on Bow Meadows Crescent. This Elk Run area is such a great location as we’re surrounded by many Canmore business friends - Wildlife Distillery is next door, Valbella Gourmet foods, just across the street, and Sheepdog Brewing at the other end of the building. During the summers, the Lovely cart will be open outside at STONEWATERS.

We are excited to keep reaching more people in our community to share what we believe is the best quality ice cream that can be made. We’re stoked to have created a premium style of ice cream, using only real food as ingredients, with no chemicals, artificial colouring, or added stabilizers which are all usually found in mass produced ice cream. Lovely Ice Cream is very proud to be offering a treat that is made in the most natural/clean way possible, from the ingredients right down to the packaging, which is all compostable. We are also proud to be providing jobs in the community. And we’re working to continue our community involvement in a few ways, from buying as many of our supplies as close to home as possible, to sponsoring local charities and sporting events. 

Thanks to all the Lovely lovers so far and we hope to earn love from even more local families in the future!