Camp Ice Cream (photo courtesy Colton Mckee)

By Chantal Wagner

Camp Ice Cream

A handcrafted ice cream shop is doing more than just selling pints

Dec 10, 2020 | 2:55 PM

MEDICINE HAT, AB – Matthew Durksen has a pretty sweet job.

He’s an ice cream maker for Camp Ice Cream in Medicine Hat.

“I’ve always wanted to be in the food business serving people in that way,” Durksen said. “I think it’s a really great opportunity because people need to eat, people need to eat well and this is just one step in the process for that.”

Camp Ice Cream partners with local farmers, breweries, and coffee shops to help make their creations come to life with local ingredients.

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“I think that’s what makes the ice cream that much more special,” Durksen added. “It’s not just preservatives and chemicals in a box, it’s fresh ingredients that we can play with a lot.”

And as far as hand-rafted ice cream goes, it’s more than just the sweet stuff that goes into building the perfect flavour.

“I think the biggest part of this job is having all the creativity that we do have to experiment and to really put our heart into what we’re actually doing. And to put our personalities in there as well,” he said.

Camp Ice Cream has 10 year-round flavours and they take pride in creating their seasonal pints as well.

“Picking out pieces of the season,” Durksen said. “So December obviously Christmas, so we got peppermint checked off the list, chocolate, gingerbread, eggnog.”

Camp Ice Cream began with a desire to create delicious ice cream that also benefits the community, says Kyle Church, Marketing & Communications with the business.

One dollar from every pint sale goes towards camps in southern Alberta, and that’s how they got their name.

“Many of us on the team have all served at summer camps in some capacity and so we have a heart for camps and also recognize that summer camps tend to be sort of a forgotten industry,” Church added.

After only being open since October of this year, it’s a stamp of approval from Hatters.

“Medicine Hat is really excited about it it seems,” Church said. “We sold over 600 pints in November and all credit goes to everyone who’s spreading the word about the ice cream.”

Durksen believes ice cream is the best comfort food, “I think the variety of flavours that you can have with ice cream really caters to what makes people individuals. It shows their likes and dislikes, and I think having that along with just getting together with family and eating together as a community is a really important thing.”

“We aim to be a champion for summer camps as well as have delicious ice cream,” Church told Chat News.

Camp Ice Cream is available to order via curbside pick-up. Their business hours and contact information can be found by visiting their website.