Cadwaladers is a family run chain of cafes that originated in
Gwynedd,
Wales
Wales ( cy, Cymru ) is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. It is bordered by England to the east, the Irish Sea to the north and west, the Celtic Sea to the south west and the Bristol Channel to the south. It had a population in ...
. The original ice cream parlour was introduced by husband and wife David and Hannah Cadwalader in 1927 in
Criccieth
Criccieth ( cy, Criccieth ) is a town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. The town lies west of Porthmadog, east of Pwllheli and south of Caernarfon. It had a population of 1,826 in 2001, reducing ...
and was originally run as a
general store. The business was passed onto one of their children, Dafydd, who changed the emphasis of the store and removed fish from sale. He sold, from the end of
World War II
World War II or the Second World War, often abbreviated as WWII or WW2, was a world war that lasted from 1939 to 1945. It involved the vast majority of the world's countries—including all of the great powers—forming two opposing ...
, vanilla
ice cream
Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as ...
that Hannah Cadwalader developed. The vanilla ice cream was made on the premises with a secret recipe, which is no longer used. The tagline of the vanilla ice cream was six
lbs of "shan't tell you" and "a great deal of love and care."
After Dafydd Cadwalader died in 1983, Cadwalader's was bought by a family of Welsh
entrepreneur
Entrepreneurship is the creation or extraction of economic value. With this definition, entrepreneurship is viewed as change, generally entailing risk beyond what is normally encountered in starting a business, which may include other values t ...
s, The Andrews Family who also own
Castle Leisure. The owners expanded the business to cover
North Wales
North Wales ( cy, Gogledd Cymru) is a region of Wales, encompassing its northernmost areas. It borders Mid Wales to the south, England to the east, and the Irish Sea to the north and west. The area is highly mountainous and rural, with Snowdonia N ...
and
Cardiff
Cardiff (; cy, Caerdydd ) is the capital and largest city of Wales. It forms a principal area, officially known as the City and County of Cardiff ( cy, Dinas a Sir Caerdydd, links=no), and the city is the eleventh-largest in the United Kingd ...
. Today, Cadwalader's stores can be found in Wales at
Betws-y-Coed
Betws-y-coed (; '' en, prayer house in the wood'') is a village and community in the Conwy valley in Conwy County Borough, Wales, located in the historic county of Caernarfonshire, right on the boundary with Denbighshire, in the Gwydir Forest. ...
,
Barry Island
Barry Island ( cy, Ynys y Barri) is a district, peninsula and seaside resort, forming part of the town of Barry in the Vale of Glamorgan, South Wales. It is named after the 6th century Saint Baruc. Barry's stretch of coast, on the Bristol Chan ...
,
Criccieth
Criccieth ( cy, Criccieth ) is a town and community on the Llŷn Peninsula in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd in Wales. The town lies west of Porthmadog, east of Pwllheli and south of Caernarfon. It had a population of 1,826 in 2001, reducing ...
,
Porthmadog
Porthmadog (; ), originally Portmadoc until 1974 and locally as "Port", is a Welsh coastal town and community in the Eifionydd area of Gwynedd and the historic county of Caernarfonshire. It lies east of Criccieth, south-west of Blaenau Ff ...
,
Tenby
Tenby ( cy, Dinbych-y-pysgod, lit=fortlet of the fish) is both a walled seaside town in Pembrokeshire, Wales, on the western side of Carmarthen Bay, and a local government community.
Notable features include of sandy beaches and the Pembroke ...
and three stores in Cardiff. There is also a store in England at
Trentham Gardens
The Trentham Estate, in the village of Trentham, is a visitor attraction located on the southern fringe of the city of Stoke-on-Trent in Staffordshire, United Kingdom.
History
The estate was first recorded in the Domesday Book in 1086. At t ...
.
As well as the original Cadwalader's vanilla ice cream and a variety of flavoured ice creams and sundaes, the cafe also sells its own bespoke blends of
coffee
Coffee is a drink prepared from roasted coffee beans. Darkly colored, bitter, and slightly acidic, coffee has a stimulating effect on humans, primarily due to its caffeine content. It is the most popular hot drink in the world.
Seeds of ...
,
loose leaf tea, and other hot drinks.
The Criccieth store holds weekly live
Jazz
Jazz is a music genre that originated in the African-American communities of New Orleans, Louisiana in the late 19th and early 20th centuries, with its roots in blues and ragtime. Since the 1920s Jazz Age, it has been recognized as a m ...
out of high season from September to June.
Administration
In September 2015, the business went into administration
after a number of setbacks including losses following the opening of a new store in Manchester in 2010, the forced closure of the Portmeirion store in 2013 and poor sales in Summer 2015. The administrators Deloitte were appointed but the company was bought out by the management team. Five of the stores had to close, with the loss of 10 jobs, but the restructuring secured 92 jobs.
References
External links
* {{official, http://www.cadwaladers.com
Food and drink companies of Wales
Ice cream parlors
Companies based in Gwynedd