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Westland Snowflake Ice Cream Factory. - history
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DescriptionWestland Snowflake Ice Cream Factory.
http://nzicecream.org.nz/history-nz-westland-snowflake.htm
1971 - 1990
Snowflake
The Norton family, dairy farmers near Greymouth, established The Riversdale Dairy in 1922, servicing Greymouth and surrounding districts with their milk and dairy products, delivered by horse and cart.
It was very much a family business. Laurence Norton, his wife Irene, his brother Wallace, his father Frederick and Mother Edith, and Irene's brother Arthur Carson, were all involved in the early years.
The business was run from a small factory/shop in front of the Norton house in Ward Street, Cobden.
Around the middle of the decade, they began producing ice cream under the Snowflake brand.
Demand was so great that in 1928 a new, larger factory was built on Taylorville Road, Coal Creek.
The refrigeration system was ammonia, and two of the original storage freezers used pumice as insulation, 8 - 10 inches thick in the walls. Before the advent of refrigerated trucks, ice cream was distributed in 2 1/2 gallon bulk cans (for scooping) as far as Westport and Hokitika, packed in insulated canvas bags.
Apart from cans, Snowflake produced Sixpenny Blocks, Choc Bombs,and Sixpenny Tubs.
Later, as home refrigerators became more common, Snowflake produced take-home Pints (round cardboard packs, then later rectangular).
After the deaths of Laurence Norton and his brother Wallace (both within 12 months), Laurence's father Frederick Norton, a baker, and brother-in-law Arthur Carson took over the dairy farm, milk and ice cream operations.
Frederick's wife Edith was also involved in running the dairy farm, along with Warren Barlow.
Laurence's son (Frederick's grandson) Owen Norton joined the business in 1946, at age 15, starting as he says "at the bottom", cleaning milk cans, cleaning stables and looking after the roundsmens' horses.
In 1947 the Riversdale milk treatment business was split off and the operation was moved to Greymouth, leaving the Coal Creek factory manufacturing Snowflake ice cream only.
Snowflake bought their first refrigerated trucks second-hand from the Perfection Ice Cream Co., Christchurch, in the early 1950s.
Owen took over the business in 1955, after his grandfather died.
Not long after, Tip Top began distributing on the West Coast, opening up the market, which had until then been shared between Snowflake and Apex (Christchurch).
Snowflake liked to have a bit of fun with their marketing, and in 1955, following news of a discovery on the West Coast, it advertised Uranium Ice Cream:
Other cheeky marketing moves included thumbing their noses at market leader Tip Top with the launch of stick novelties called the "PP2", and "Poppa".
Ice blocks and other stick novelties were made in moulds frozen in a brine tank. Snowflake manufactured Joy Bars for a while, six inch bars of chocolate-coated ice cream with a raspberry strip through the centre, very popular, but the cost of production was quite high so they didn't last.
From the late '50s, Snowflake became West Coast distributor for Birdseye Frozen Foods (Unilever), and later Supreme Frozen Products (Timaru).
When Unilever launched its own Wall's brand of ice cream in the 60s, Snowflake distributed Wall's ice cream and frozen novelties as well as their own brand.
At its peak, Snowflake was sold over the whole of the South Island, and into parts of the North Island.
Snowflake had long been a member of the Canterbury-West Coast branch of the NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association (NZICA). Owen Norton had been attending conferences since 1950. and held the office of President from 1972-1977. Together with Bob Fyfe of Tip Top, he played an important role in helping the NZICA survive at a time when membership was down and industry unity was weakened.
Through his long-time involvement with the NZICA, and other business activities, Owen maintained good personal and business relationships with most of the other ice cream manufacturers around the country. These were strengthened when Westland Snowflake hosted the annual NZICA Conference in Greymouth in 1987.
Other ice cream brands manufactured by Snowflake over the years included Bluebell (a budget brand), Quality Inn, and premium brand, Queen Anne. They also produced house brand ice cream for supermarket chain Countdown.
Snowflake purchased the rights to the iconic Queen Anne Ice Cream brand some time after Queen Anne closed down their ice cream business in 1976. Snowflake continued selling Queen Anne "Natural Premium Ice Cream" for several years.
On the night of the 5th/6th of January 1994, the Snowflake factory caught fire and was seriously damaged after being struck by lightning. Much of the factory and equipment had to be re-built, and months of production was lost.
Owen Norton sold the ice cream business assets of Westland Snowflake Limited to Development West Coast (DWC) in 2008 - the new company was called West Coast Snowflake.
The business continued under the new management for two more years, in an effort to keep this important regional brand alive, but the competitive retail environment proved too much, and Snowflake finally closed its doors in 2010.
Other references and related sites:
Kete West Coast
http://ketewestcoast.peoplesnetworknz.info/en/site/audio/show/4-owen-norton-talking-about-uranium-flavoured-snowflake-ice-cream-in-the-1950s
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand digitised newspapers database):
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association (NZICA) Oral History Project; held at NZICA archives and Alexander Turnbull Library.
- Shona McCahon, Oral historian.
West Coast New Zealand History
www.westcoast.recollect.co.nz
BackBack to Ice Cream Brands from the Past.
Map[1] ContributorClaire Ward
http://nzicecream.org.nz/history-nz-westland-snowflake.htm
1971 - 1990
Snowflake
The Norton family, dairy farmers near Greymouth, established The Riversdale Dairy in 1922, servicing Greymouth and surrounding districts with their milk and dairy products, delivered by horse and cart.
It was very much a family business. Laurence Norton, his wife Irene, his brother Wallace, his father Frederick and Mother Edith, and Irene's brother Arthur Carson, were all involved in the early years.
The business was run from a small factory/shop in front of the Norton house in Ward Street, Cobden.
Around the middle of the decade, they began producing ice cream under the Snowflake brand.
Demand was so great that in 1928 a new, larger factory was built on Taylorville Road, Coal Creek.
The refrigeration system was ammonia, and two of the original storage freezers used pumice as insulation, 8 - 10 inches thick in the walls. Before the advent of refrigerated trucks, ice cream was distributed in 2 1/2 gallon bulk cans (for scooping) as far as Westport and Hokitika, packed in insulated canvas bags.
Apart from cans, Snowflake produced Sixpenny Blocks, Choc Bombs,and Sixpenny Tubs.
Later, as home refrigerators became more common, Snowflake produced take-home Pints (round cardboard packs, then later rectangular).
After the deaths of Laurence Norton and his brother Wallace (both within 12 months), Laurence's father Frederick Norton, a baker, and brother-in-law Arthur Carson took over the dairy farm, milk and ice cream operations.
Frederick's wife Edith was also involved in running the dairy farm, along with Warren Barlow.
Laurence's son (Frederick's grandson) Owen Norton joined the business in 1946, at age 15, starting as he says "at the bottom", cleaning milk cans, cleaning stables and looking after the roundsmens' horses.
In 1947 the Riversdale milk treatment business was split off and the operation was moved to Greymouth, leaving the Coal Creek factory manufacturing Snowflake ice cream only.
Snowflake bought their first refrigerated trucks second-hand from the Perfection Ice Cream Co., Christchurch, in the early 1950s.
Owen took over the business in 1955, after his grandfather died.
Not long after, Tip Top began distributing on the West Coast, opening up the market, which had until then been shared between Snowflake and Apex (Christchurch).
Snowflake liked to have a bit of fun with their marketing, and in 1955, following news of a discovery on the West Coast, it advertised Uranium Ice Cream:
Other cheeky marketing moves included thumbing their noses at market leader Tip Top with the launch of stick novelties called the "PP2", and "Poppa".
Ice blocks and other stick novelties were made in moulds frozen in a brine tank. Snowflake manufactured Joy Bars for a while, six inch bars of chocolate-coated ice cream with a raspberry strip through the centre, very popular, but the cost of production was quite high so they didn't last.
From the late '50s, Snowflake became West Coast distributor for Birdseye Frozen Foods (Unilever), and later Supreme Frozen Products (Timaru).
When Unilever launched its own Wall's brand of ice cream in the 60s, Snowflake distributed Wall's ice cream and frozen novelties as well as their own brand.
At its peak, Snowflake was sold over the whole of the South Island, and into parts of the North Island.
Snowflake had long been a member of the Canterbury-West Coast branch of the NZ Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association (NZICA). Owen Norton had been attending conferences since 1950. and held the office of President from 1972-1977. Together with Bob Fyfe of Tip Top, he played an important role in helping the NZICA survive at a time when membership was down and industry unity was weakened.
Through his long-time involvement with the NZICA, and other business activities, Owen maintained good personal and business relationships with most of the other ice cream manufacturers around the country. These were strengthened when Westland Snowflake hosted the annual NZICA Conference in Greymouth in 1987.
Other ice cream brands manufactured by Snowflake over the years included Bluebell (a budget brand), Quality Inn, and premium brand, Queen Anne. They also produced house brand ice cream for supermarket chain Countdown.
Snowflake purchased the rights to the iconic Queen Anne Ice Cream brand some time after Queen Anne closed down their ice cream business in 1976. Snowflake continued selling Queen Anne "Natural Premium Ice Cream" for several years.
On the night of the 5th/6th of January 1994, the Snowflake factory caught fire and was seriously damaged after being struck by lightning. Much of the factory and equipment had to be re-built, and months of production was lost.
Owen Norton sold the ice cream business assets of Westland Snowflake Limited to Development West Coast (DWC) in 2008 - the new company was called West Coast Snowflake.
The business continued under the new management for two more years, in an effort to keep this important regional brand alive, but the competitive retail environment proved too much, and Snowflake finally closed its doors in 2010.
Other references and related sites:
Kete West Coast
http://ketewestcoast.peoplesnetworknz.info/en/site/audio/show/4-owen-norton-talking-about-uranium-flavoured-snowflake-ice-cream-in-the-1950s
Nga Taonga Sound & Vision
Papers Past (National Library of New Zealand digitised newspapers database):
http://paperspast.natlib.govt.nz/
New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturers' Association (NZICA) Oral History Project; held at NZICA archives and Alexander Turnbull Library.
- Shona McCahon, Oral historian.
West Coast New Zealand History
www.westcoast.recollect.co.nz
BackBack to Ice Cream Brands from the Past.
Map[1] ContributorClaire Ward
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Location (city or town)GreymouthOrganisation (eg business)Westland Snowflake Ice Cream Ltd
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Category TagOld buildings
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West Coast New Zealand History (11th Nov 2022). Westland Snowflake Ice Cream Factory. - history. In Website West Coast New Zealand History. Retrieved 24th May 2026 04:15, from https://westcoast.recollect.co.nz/nodes/view/12574