Good morning, good afternoon, good evening to wherever you are, you're listening to the AllTalk Car Podcast, hello's here with us tonight, you know how? I came to the Mr. Whippy. We came, we've got special guests tonight, we've got Clario and Mona de Gregario, they own a Mr.
Whippy trail, we're an ice cream fan. Yep, ice cream is for everyone. Sorry, you can start a podcast, you can't see us eating ice greens all. Having them run down our place.
Oh, it's this lead. I'm rushing. Yeah. We might say thank you for joining us guys.
Thanks for having us, thank you. So, it's a unique business. How long have you guys been involved in the ice cream truck trade? Well, my parents started in 1968.
Wow. The first van they had, the most. The van? The most of the Morris van.
The Morris van. Oh, the truck, he did the streets of Lyca, back then, we were nice. He did the Fisock Events part and in 1976 he upgraded to a Holden Bedford van. The Bedford, yeah.
The 76 model and he put a Capigani software machine plus Gelato. Nice. So, virtually it was upgraded from the old Morris. He did the rounds, he bought a tune for the music, the greens leaves.
Greens leaves, of course. He was doing the streets on Saturday morning, he had the pipe pipe in his ear. Yes. He heard that, kids would jump over fences and money falling everywhere.
Yes, coins and that, and the old one on the notes and the other notes, and they're coming back in, the gold coins. And it started with chop tops, flakes, your hundreds and thousands of peanuts, and then eventually he started serving milkshakes, which became popular. So how old were you when Dad first started? Mum and Dad were in the truck.
Well, eventually newborn. Yeah, yeah. Was that their full-time job? No, no, no, only part-time.
Week ends and nights. Week ends and nights. Mainly in the summer time he got more easier. Yeah, yeah.
People. Then eventually he got my mother to drive the van, because my mother used to work shift work. Yeah. And my mother, driving around the van and she got the hang of it, she's driving manual, which is really good.
I don't know what the brother used to talk about as well. So you guys as kids at the back would serve a mum and drive around? Well, it was a bit too big young. My brother was doing things like a cashier.
I've given the money. I've got a very good a mess. Yeah, absolutely. Yeah, you've got a mess.
And eventually in 1979 we bought a Ford Trent van. Yep. And we just the van and we got it converted to a high roof, double windows, brand new software machine, generator, two deep freezers, a bit of sine writing. Back then there's no graphics, you know, the stick on graphics or handwritten.
And we still got the van today. It's got a nice... So that's the one you look for in my games on Instagram page. You'll see the Ford Transit truck with the van there.
The baby I drive around with my owner. Didn't want my dad buy the Ford Transit. Yes, they did. And then you took over.
We took over virtually when I started, you know, when we were pleased virtually. That was your weekend weekend? Yeah, a bit of a lot of girls. Sorry, don't you think a lot of girls are there?
No, you made it right. You made it right. Back of the truck. You made it right, you know.
Well, that's brilliant. So basically we had a mum and dad get into it. Like, started off with one of our names across the road, had a Volkswagen, Combi Van, just on the ice cream. And my dad walked him out when he had an occasion on the weekend, like a wedding or function.
He eventually enjoyed it. He enjoyed meeting people with the freedom of going out and he and a Bond and Morris van. And in fact, in those days, I mean, there was no always open-minded night shops with five o'clock weekends, everything. So effectively, you had an op-ed, if you wanted an ice cream, you'd listen up for the song.
You did. And then it gets run. And adults. But as the many changed over the years, it was always being single double scooted.
The menu, we keep it traditional. The single and the doubles, we don't try to complicate it. We just keep the originals. Chopped up.
It's like early or the flight come late. Flake was in there. Flake was in there. Yeah, yeah.
No, no, no. No, no, no. Just the flake. We keep it simple, but the gelato in there.
The gelato is with the scooted. Like a digital gelato. And then what sort of flavors do you know? We've got around nine flavors.
Mine, we keep the popular one, like the chocolate, lemon, the raspberry, hazelnut, banana. And its not spaced in the face. Yeah, we keep the popular flavors. What do you think you can do with the trends?
What's involved? Was it back yard? Was it friends or panel readers? When we really start.
Back in those days, there were no high-rise van for sale, like you see today. The virtually, there was a guy down at Lickham, an engineering company, he had the mould for the high-top roof. Okay. So what he virtually did was cut the roof off, put the fiberglass mould in, build the frame for reinforcement, put the windows, cut the events and where you go.
You had the basic platform to move forward. And you hear the engines when the ice cream is poured, is the machine, the compressor of the ice cream machine running off the engine? Or when the water's generated out, is that a movement? We've refurbished the Trent event, we've got double-sympical regulations, hot water, cotton cold water, as I mentioned, and the ice water, we've got a little diesel generator at the back.
So it runs in a minute? Independent. And also, you have council regulators, is there a restaurant on wheels to you? No, it's like a permit.
Yeah, you need a permit, it's not a restaurant, there's no cooking involved. Okay. It's only virtually milk, no products. You're getting up train secrets now?
No, no, no, no. I was going to ask, how does a soft serve get made? I'm trying to get rid of it, but how does it get made? Such as milk?
Okay, we bought from my Norco, quality ingredients, it's a premium mix. And you have your Norco, we can say. Yeah, yeah, yeah, it's great. Yeah.
It's not an ice confectionery, it's actual ice cream. Yeah. It's nice and fluffy and firm, so it doesn't run quickly. As you see, some competitors use a different brand.
No problem, you put it in the machine, you aerate it, it turds, turds, and it comes out as a, like a soft serve that you see in Instagram photos. So it's a do add milk to the Norco, no Norco. It's pretty pretty mixed. It's ready to go, your machine.
Primic, yeah, it's not a, you actually product, it's a fresh product. Yeah. It's not a pre-micked powder, it's just from the manufacturer, straight to the fridge, into the van. Because how recently you said to us you did a taste test with five different bands?
Yeah, could you just taste the difference? Like I can tell you they actually tasted like shit. And that's really what, that was actually like, what is this? It tastes like a drip, it was just artificial.
So it just tasted like, it was, you know, it just wasn't right. Is it other supply? I mean, I've tried, I've tried the brand. I've tried the brand.
Yeah, like, is it subjective? Would people like that? Or is it healthy? Funny, funny thing that you see, like, I've, when I do the, the, the, the parks and the city run.
Yeah. And you get a couple of regulars here and there, and I tried different brands, I had a free sample to try. And they will say, have you change your brand? Okay.
I like it. Yeah. So obviously to one product now. And obviously your customers like it.
Yeah. I think, I think, I think, I think shop around for the most cheapest brand. This stuff that they work, they're a bit more happy with. So I've got the formula right, I believe.
So there are different companies that supply? There is, there is. I've tried majority of them, but I always go back to the original one. How many, how many ice cream vanes are you going to run the road?
Is anyone kept any statistics? Which you guys know? There's a few, there's a few like coffee in the front and ice cream. Okay.
Coffee, yeah, yeah, coffee, yeah. And you've got that other one. They should be an ice cream band owners day without all the government. I think that's a line up and have an annual competition.
No, no, no competition. It would taste the warm up place. I don't know. I like the mix though.
Yeah, exactly. I think, yeah. We, we, we, we can have ice cream. Early.
It's not like an ice cream. It's all the time. It's breakfast, it's lunch. We might need a, we might need a car and coffee, but I think at 6am ice cream is maybe either going to actually coffee on the ice cream morning.
It's like an apple, apple, apple, apple. Yeah. And apple, apple, apple, apple, apple. Yeah.
Coffee on something. Yeah. Well, you guys go to the van and start mixing and experiment with different flavors. No, we're going to experiment at Carpenters.
Carpenters are good. So you can go in the morning. Yeah. Yeah.
So I mean, yeah, because I remember as a kid, it was like, there was the traditional line. It would never have their area. Like with Mum and Dad back in those days. I mean, your neighbor had his truck.
Did you know, did you know Mum and Dad know we stick to Lycart? Yes. Yes. You do that park.
I'll do the other one. Did I just rotate it? No, we, it would have stuck it down to the area. Yeah.
It would have been an extra amount of hours per day. So you couldn't, ever week. Yeah. Yeah.
Oh, the ice cream. The ice cream. Yeah. The ice cream.
Yeah. The ice cream. Yeah. The ice cream.
Yeah. I think I need that a lot in area, that's not fun. Yeah. No, my little one.
That's your ice cream. Yeah. But the green sleeves, that, that, that, that's, that's just synonymous with the ice cream. The ice cream and the kids go to reserve.
And you know, you had at least 45 seconds before the truck went past your street. It was, it was, but tradition pays a long thing. when you hear the ice cream van, you always think, I'm going to get my cone, with my with my, whatever, top of the lot with it. And then depending on where you go now, and you got these new ache ones, if you see the old school van, you know you're getting the soft comb.
The newer ones, they've got this type of cone, that type of cone, there's the my, oh, it's not a nice cone. Okay, just take my four bucks for whatever it is and just give me a really nice soft serve and that's it. And the quality of the cone, you get to support it with your hand over your heart over your heart over your four, five, six dollars. And four, that's soft.
Yeah, soft coat. Yeah. Do you guys have good coats? Yes.
Like that's important too. That's like the head. That's a lot of noise. Yes, yes, yes.
Yeah. Can I just be the ice cream at it? Mate, you might get me the other side. There's ice cream in it, buddy.
The rest is missing out. Yeah, no. I always used to get upset when you're... I was thinking of what I said now.
Yeah. Because you know, you have those cookies. Oh, yeah. It's a bad house, isn't it?
Yeah. Does Norco supply the cones as well? Is that another little train-seeker? No, you know, we buy our cones from a wholesaler.
Yeah, cool. Ultimate, ultimate brand. Yeah, nice and crisp. Have you had a go at the wafer or more of the traditional?
More the traditional. Yeah. I've tried to wait, but everyone gets a traditional cone. Yeah.
What's the biggest side? Tocco. Tocco. Single double.
Single, single. Single. Single. Chocolate.
Could you pick what someone's got order? Like if you saw me coming, would you? Yeah. Yeah.
Yeah. Yeah. Cut. I reckon you'd go for chocolate with finance.
What size? Where, importantly? The single one. They're pretty single.
The single cone's fine. The single cone's fine. It's fine. It's fine.
It's fine. It's fine. It's fine. It's fine.
It's a good serving on it. It's a good serving on it. No, no, I think it's good. I think it's good.
No, no, no, no. I think it's good. I don't know. I think it's good.
I don't know. The corners of the chocolate at the bottom. Yeah. I'm not sure what it is.
I got the Mr. Whivy and I thought I had the chocolate at the bottom. And I was not a chocolate at the bottom. Yeah.
Yeah. I had to bring it up. But it was a bit of an experience. But, oh, they're obviously Whivy.
It's a Whivy. Is that a franchise or brand? Or is that just? It's a franchise back in England.
Yeah. It came to Australia in the 1960s. Okay. And the name is Painter and so.
You're not called? It's not a Whivy. But it's funny because it's like Hoover. It's like a vacuum cleaner.
I suppose Mr. Whivy, you see a nice script. So how do areas work? So you can only wait one.
No, you do. To date society, you need a permit? Okay. Yeah.
You need to live in insurance? Yeah. How do you stay out of each other's ways and like you've got you've got a permit to operate certain area? Okay.
So where do you get a permit from? It's like government? No, no, no, no, no. So you've got a permit from one local council for an area.
So say there's function somewhere south of Sydney and I want you to couple onto that function. Do you need another permit from then? Yes. And when did that start coming?
I mean back in the 80s. In the 85. And the politicians realized their relatives had that Mr. Whivy van to the city.
You went on to speak on the dictionary? Do you have to pay for the permits? Yes. They didn't have to.
No. They didn't have to. You pay for it and then expect your van. I'll make sure your van comes off.
So how long before like how long does that process take? So like can you just do it online and then they say do you will come and inspect it or is it like who's making it on the day? It's quite different. Each council is different.
They put application for it. And they usually inspect the van. Okay. And then that's like an annual renewal or?
Yes. So they need to look at it again next year or it's just you renew it and if they turn up and check it. Do random checks? So make sure you're in your combine.
So if you go to a sporting dinner or a park. That can be an actual council, you know, a west council. If a ranger comes by you'll have a look and make sure. Yeah.
Yeah. Oh good for you. So you've got multiple permits or is it? Yes.
So I've got a few. Yes. But if I had a private function, I think like 21st party you might have. Yeah.
It's not. No. I'm not a private. Because that's probably it.
As long as I've got a public library insurance. Yeah. Which we should. Yeah.
And do you guys do corporate events now? Like was it still? We're getting there. We've got a couple small parties here and there.
Yeah. We're just trying to get into more events now the last six months. Yeah. And we've had a few events come our way and everyone's been really happy with our product.
Yeah. So corporate, I suppose like a retro or a general. Yeah. It's a sort of a particular thing.
Yeah. We've had a lot of both. They're parties. Yeah.
Yeah. So I'm a lot of church events as well. Yeah. Different church, different, different, different church events.
Yeah. Nice. Yeah. Mid-fundra isn't as well.
Yeah. The churches. Yeah. Yeah.
No, no, no, no, no, no, no, no, no. It's a type of trumpet. It brings a small. Yeah.
So we're going to see that bigger light. And the side windows, the edges of the. Every photo we take without customers, they're always trying to get it happy. They're happy.
Yeah. And none of those ice creams put away. Everyone's happy. You should just excuse that.
You can smash it and it's fine. It doesn't matter. Because I've got a photo of you as a child. When a ice cream comes.
I'm salivating. I'll tell you all. We could do it before and after. What would you do?
You know, little big pink paint. Oh, it's big pink, big pink, big pink, big pink. Like, I just, ice cream, I just love it. I love ice cream.
Yeah, I'll go right into the street. And you know, you're here out and you'll be running around the house. Fifty cents! Fifty cents!
I think if I would yell out, make sure your brother is coming with you. I mean, you're sitting in the bathroom. Who? Who?
What? I've only got 50 cents. I'm not sharing yet. And you literally, like I said, oh, yeah.
45 seconds to get money off your parents, and bolt down their door, jump on the bike and chase his span down. It brings back great memories. I'm so happy. So yeah, it's amazing though that over all these decades, it's still the same formula.
It's just the truck. So I know whether you scrape the gelard out or whether you pull the trigger on the chain, it's the same milkshakes. Do you have milkshakes? I do, I do have milkshakes.
Which has a very buckling in the summertime. We put the sauce serve in it, in the fresh milk, and a bit of chocolate syrup, all we have on the day, and it's mixed it up. It's a lot of trainees now, do you have like almond milk and soy milk? Nah, I just get it.
Yeah, I just get it. And the traditional cream. Yeah, yeah. Yeah.
Yeah, it's okay, it's all right, it's happy. It's just a little bit, no, full cream milk, that's it. They're all the same channels, I've heard it's all good. Yeah, it's fine.
If you're lactose intolerant, just keep drinking the full cream stuff, you'll shock your system that much. You've got the lactose intolerance all the way. You've got to get rid of the intolerance. Right?
Shutting the door. So your body's going to get sick of it. It's amazing what you've been after this week, now. No match.
You've got work at the office, we're going to cars, the usual. Yeah. I've got the needles, we've got the car as well, as we're going to cars and the car. They're kind of full to play.
Okay. No, I was good. What's your daily? If the truck is on the weekend, glad they aren't on their motor.
What cars have you got in the driveway? You've got a nice one to jazz? I have to jazz, yeah. And I'm drawing a key, a sorento.
Practical? Yes. Sensible fan. And you just go crazy on the weekends with the...
The band. Yeah. Oh, it's great. I took the car, got ceramic coated this week.
When it rains, it bubbles up and it'll start through. But, yeah, so that's all, we're doing well. I've got the kids still, we've washed the car. I'm not doing that again.
We've washed the car with the end. I was just going to do it. No, I'm not doing it. Because while I wasn't paying attention, they grabbed some different sponges from inside.
And not the scarab one. Yeah, the middle one. Yeah. Well, not the middle one, but the one that's got the dark green there at the core side, the scrubber, and luckily they were at the front.
And they're like, I'm going, what are you doing out in front of? I've already hosed the car and I'm just getting the... I'm going to dry it. And it's like, I reckon not only did my neighbours hear it, okay?
They're probably late relative service, without the upper row. Because I'm... And they both said that, but we want to help. So, they're being...
Band? I told them to help your mother wash her around. It's not your shoes. It's not your shoes.
I mean, when you were kids at the back of the yard, the van, did you guys muck around at all? We did. We did. It's in trouble?
No, not in trouble. We were trying to pretty much get freedom. We had a limit. Was there any pranks?
Is there any codes that you would give to any members? Nah. The customer gave them a muck around. No, no.
Full professional. No, no. Any tips, any people leading you to check the change? That was that offered?
Yeah. If she dollars in the change, you're going on. You call them back here, you change them over there. And you kept that?
I'm a dad talking about it. No, I'm a dad talking about it. No, no. I'm just doing this.
Actually. And you've had a few celebrities as well, like, come up to the truck. You did, yeah. And Danny Manai, the man of course.
They just run out of their house and... No, I went to the city. Yeah. So, we've had a few celebrities come through.
Oh, wow. Okay. Unfortunately. Yeah, we had a box of guinea green.
We were doing these all. Nah, he bought a water. He bought a water. Oh, yeah.
Yeah. He wasn't able to make weight. He wasn't able to make weight. What are you doing, Danny Manai?
Danny Manai. I've seen my Choctaw. I've seen my Choctaw man. See, right?
It is. It's the one. I'm going to throw a big flag come around. I've been able to play.
The old Craig Meen? Yeah. Oh, yeah. Yeah.
We've done it for the young Choctaw man. Just a plain Choctaw. Choctaw. And the Choctaw, what brand is it?
Is it Cadbury's? Is it just a... It's a name brand? Yeah.
It's like... See, that's the thing. If they use a cheap cooking chocolate or whatever they use, you're going to pick up on a straight right? Exactly.
Yeah. Who knows? Like, international bread? Yeah.
I can't even like, my kids like Fredos. And they like link balls. I don't know. Man, I got their taste for them.
Mate, you try giving them a frog that's not a Fredo. A different chocolate doesn't. No, no, no. I'll show you that.
That's like, that's like, that's not a Fredo. A little one doesn't discriminate. They got the lint umbrellas. Yes.
You always get the red ones. And they didn't have any the other day. The lint still where we're walking through the shopping center. And he goes, don't you?
He goes, can I have the gwy one? No. He goes, well, you can't. But I go, you probably not going to like it.
He's a different flavour inside. What's new guy? Right? The other one's just plain chocolate.
Pure chocolate. He goes, no, I got to. What's the word? What's the word?
What's the word? It's going to be thrown away. But I didn't even see where it went. He's back there.
He's back there. And then he held it up. They all the stick out. So, look, we're going.
We're going. You've got kids. You guys, you've got kids. Yeah, we've just got a newborn.
He's nearly nine months old. You're going to get in the chair and everything else? Your brother still have a go? Yeah, he does.
So, see the blood? It literally is a generational thing. It's something that it's down. We have a weekend off.
We're worried about what we should have went out today. So, it feels funny. I've got a great idea. This is a bit wicky.
Hey! I've got a great spirit. You can come get the pain. I can't wait a minute.
No, no, no, no. I'm giving you that. Not you. That's a good idea.
Yeah, you know. There's people that hire out cars to Uber drivers. Yes. To fix the now.
You're the taxi district. That's what we need is a reliable person that maybe wants to go out and run. I'm still with you, man. So, you're the franchise always.
So, you're racing out there. The van's working for you. You're doing great. How?
You're on something, man. Two-ro, four-four. You've got all sorts of places to be made. Because it's, think about all the young, all the misguided girls that had a crush on the Mr.
Wicky guy. You just go back and get them. You've got to get them. You've got to see them.
You've got to see them. You've got to see them. You've got to see them. You've got to know what I was.
You've got to know what I was. Would you like an ice cream? I don't know what I'm saying. No, no, no.
We're going. That's the rock vlog. We're going. That's amazing.
Your plug can be fine. I mean, obviously you do corporate events. Can we hire the van? Yeah.
You can. We're on Instagram. We're on Instagram. The vintage family ice cream van.
Yeah. We're happy to do any event. Any school event, corporate event, wedding. We get people actually coming and taking photos when they get married in front of the van as well.
So, yeah. We're happy for any event. Or a function. Yeah.
We're happy to take. Yeah, and you're basically Sydney Metro, how far out can you? Sydney Metro, yeah. Sydney Metro, yeah.
And coming to a Sydney New Year, we'll get help to expand the business. We get a whole fleet of them and we'll put them out now. No, that's cool, I can send me. That's super cool.
So we'll post that on our Instagram page. Thank you very much. Thank you for coming on. That was interesting.
I'll tell you what, as I said, I don't have to come in on the weekend and come on from the inside because I've seen it from the outside, I've stood in a queue and handed over to my brother to go in there just with a single and some shorts. It depends how far we can go. It depends how far we can go. It depends how far we can go.
Yeah, it depends how far we can go. We're selling ice cream now. It sells. It sells.
It sells. It sells. Well, thank you for coming on. Thank you.
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