It is a Swansea institution which has been beloved by the people of the city for generations. And this month, Joe's Ice Cream parlour is officially marking its 100th birthday. The origins of Joe’s Ice Cream can be traced back more than 100 years – to 1898 when Luigi Cascarini travelled from Italy to Swansea in search of work. Surprised by the lack of cafés around the docks, he started his own, serving coffee dawn until dusk.
His eldest son, Joe Cascarini followed him to Wales and in 1922, he set up his own café and quickly diversified and started serving homemade ice cream at 85 St Helen’s Road – still the site of the company’s landmark premises today. Since then, the business has grown, diversified and its now in its fourth familial generation, becoming an increasingly recognisable brand in Wales and further afield, with strong community links.
To coincide with the landmark anniversary, Joe's re-opened its signature parlour at St Helen's Road after a rebrand and renovation, giving away free ice cream on the day to all of its customers as a special thank you. It also launched a new Centenary Sundae - an Italian-style Tiramisu flavoured dessert, specially designed to celebrate its anniversary and Italian heritage. Inside the parlour, there's new panels documenting its history, old photos and newspaper cuttings. You can get more Swansea news and other story updates by subscribing to our newsletters here.
READ MORE: The story of Wales' most famous ice cream - and the Joe that gave it its name
Director of Joe’s Ice Cream, Lucy Hughes, for whom Joe was her great great uncle, said: “At Joe’s Ice Cream, we have always understood the importance of the company’s heritage and history, but for our family business to reach such a remarkable milestone is truly humbling. We wanted to mark the occasion in a way that was befitting of our modest beginnings, and we feel an exciting refurbishment at the same premises where it all began is a perfect way to celebrate with our customers. We hope that the next generations of our loyal custom base continue to visit us and create happy memories at our parlour.”
One of the oldest customers of Joe's was present at the grand re-opening. Ninety-year-old Mary Matthews has been visiting the parlour for the vast majority of its history, recalling how her parents first took her when she was aged just two, and she never looked back. She said: "My parents brought me here when I was two and I've come ever since. My only son lives in Warwickshire and brings my grandson down to visit. He's only one - two in January, and we gave him one, and he started crying because it had all gone!
"It's a luxury and it's something really special to me. I've never tasted anything else like it in my life. I have relatives from Torquay who come to visit and they love Joe's. I try to come as often as I can. I am going to live a long time yet and I am going to keep coming here - it's the ice cream that keeps me going!" You can read more stories about Swansea here.
Later this year, the national Storytrails project will connect the history of Joe’s with the Swansea public and community in a new hi-tech visual way. Storytrails is an immersive experience which brings stories from the past to life through the 3D internet and augmented reality – the same technology that players of Pokémon will be familiar with.
Storytrails will take place over a free two-day festival from August 10 to 11 at the central library. The public will be invited to walk a short trail around Swansea to discover the surprisingly dramatic history of Joe Cascarini and his sister Gerardina. There's a heatwave on the way to Wales! This is when it will arrive and how hot it will get where you live.
The company will also celebrate its heritage and 100-year landmark by planting 100 trees in Wales, and another 100 in the Western region of Nepal. This project has been organised in conjunction with Centenary Forests via Swansea University, a social enterprise that supports biodiversity in farming and the environment. The site for the 100-tree plantation in Wales is in planning and will be planted later this year.
Jay Bedwani, founder of the Storytrails project, added: “Using AR technology is a brilliant way of stepping into the past and experiencing the fascinating story of Joe's. For me, the story of Joe's isn't just about the man himself, but the whole community, and one special person who always had his back. It's an emotional story, and very relevant to the times we're living in now. I can't wait for people to experience it."
