In lockdown, ice cream trucks roam the suburbs … just don’t play it too loud

You may have heard the chiming notes floating through the air while working from home or doing schoolwork via Zoom, an unmistakable sound ringing out in the streets.

Ice cream.

The days of Mr Whippy trucks roaming the suburbs looking for customers are back with a vengeance, as distributors of soft serve take advantage of a locked-down clientele stuck at home with nowhere to go.

Melanie Clark serves happy customers at of Clark’s ice cream truck at Lillydale Lake.Credit:Joe Armao

With events on hold for the past 18 months, ice cream trucks have gone back to their roots — which includes piping out the classic Greensleeves tune luring customers towards single cones, choc dips and Flakes.

“When COVID came in March [last year] we lost a huge amount of events in 24 hours,” said David Clark, second generation owner of Clark’s Ice Cream Truck.

“We’ve hit the streets again and it’s been good. People can’t go anywhere, it’s been really busy. Everyone’s been home, even the adults get excited when we come past and play the music.”

Based in Mooroolbark in Melbourne’s east, Mr Clark’s Ford Transit is allowed to trade in suburban streets in the Yarra Ranges Shire area as part of his food traders’ permit.

Mr Clark said people often ask for his truck to visit their area. However, like an old fisherman who knows where to drop a line, experience has taught him the best places to park his truck.

“You get to know the areas where there are lots of young families, particular courts and streets where you might have them all come out,” he said.

Albert Cerminara is another ice cream truck operator in Melbourne’s west. His business, Mr Fresh Truck, is currently focusing on pre-orders in lockdown. However he has been driving through the suburbs when restrictions have lifted.

The classic ice cream truck has returned to the streets.Credit:Joe Armao

“It’s a new market, people are at home, people are locked up, people are home-schooling,” he said.

“The hostility and frustration, we put that music on and they come running out — the mothers and fathers too.”

Mr Cerminara said the truck was started by his father, “an old school Italian”, who had been serving ice creams from the back of a van for 40 years.

“It’s absolutely going back to our roots, it was like ‘hey there’s no income, let’s go back to what we know and what we’re good at’,” he said.

“It’s where it all started.”

While the product is mostly the same as those early years, some things have changed. Ice creams that once cost 65 cents are now priced at $4 or $4.50. Payment can be made using EFTPOS. Facebook has become a valuable advertising tool.

“At the peak we were getting 200 messages,” he said.

But not everyone is completely happy about ice cream trucks visiting their area in lockdown.

A recent thread on the Melbourne subreddit site highlighted that Greensleeves can actually be a bit annoying, particularly when playing on repeat with no way to escape it.

There’s also the problem of getting kids to concentrate on anything else once they hear that music playing.

“It is definitely something we’re mindful of, we’re not blasting out at huge decibels either,” said Mr Clark.

“We are mindful that people are working from home. It’s good to shut the screen down and get a nice ice cream.”

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