With so many incredible local businesses on the Gold Coast, one begins to wonder: how did they all come to be? In our series, ‘The story behind…’, we chat with local founders and owners about how their business started, their biggest learnings and their tips for other self-starters.
This time, we caught up with Jackson Cox and Alex Pedersen, co-owners of Chilly Bin – the ice cream sending tongues wagging all over the Gold Coast.
When did the idea for the Chilly Bin first come about? And how?
We moved from New Zealand to Australia in 2018 and quickly realised that no one was selling real fruit ice cream. For those who don’t know, real fruit ice cream is a part of the kiwi culture and found all over the country, so it was always in the back of our mind as something cool to do. The idea of making our honey sweetened ice cream came about after trying to align our product our personal ethos on food, which is to reduce the consumption of refined sugars.
Where did you start?
We started in 2023 in Brisbane at various farmers markets, with New Farm markets being our main stay for over a year. We officially launched the Chilly Bin in our current location in Tugun in August last year.
What were some of the challenges you faced in the beginning? How did you overcome them?
Our biggest challenge initially was finding somewhere to trade on the Gold Coast. We tried all the markets but could not secure a spot. This meant 2am wake ups to head to Brisbane every weekend for a 6am market start, which you can imagine was a tough time of day to sell ice cream! We kept exploring possible options in the Gold Coast where we could park our trailer, and reached out to everywhere we could think of – pubs, cafes, etc. We noticed that the yard in Tugun was almost always vacant and after some digging, we got hold of the owner who was kind enough to give us a lease. Out of every option we explored, it was the best one as well, so we couldn’t have been happier with the outcome.
The next challenge was to learn how to make ice cream sweetened entirely with raw honey. With no real culinary expertise, this meant a lot of trial and error with many batches going down the drain!
What has been your biggest learning since starting the business?
I would say realising the importance of aligning our business with something we believe in. We started out using standard store-bought brands for our ice cream base, but always wanted to make a healthier version. Taking the ice cream production in house was definitely the harder path to take, but we know it wouldn’t have grown to what it has today if we didn’t.
And what about your biggest ‘I’ve made it’ moment?
We are far from feeling like we’ve made it, but when a customer tell us that it’s the best ice cream they’ve ever had, or thanks us for providing something they are happy to give their kids, it is really rewarding. It makes us feel like we’re on the right track!
What does a working day in your life look like?
A working week is probably the best way to look at it. We both still have other jobs Monday and Tuesday. On Wednesday we make the ice cream, which is a full day process. We then churn all day Thursday and into Friday and Saturday as well. Because we don’t have all then fancy equipment yet, the process is very manual (or artisanal, as some would like to say).
The fun part is from Friday to Sunday, which involves setting up the space in the morning and selling during the day – only to pack it all up Sunday night, and get ready to do it all again!
What do you love about the Gold Coast community, especially as a business owner?
We love how health-conscious Gold Coast people are. Everyone is so fit and active and spends as much time outside as possible. For what we are selling, and where we are selling, it couldn’t be more perfect.
Locals love to support local businesses as well and it’s awesome to contribute to the community in a positive way.
So, where to next? What’s in the pipeline for the Chilly Bin?
Our next step is to secure a retail shop with a large commercial kitchen. We want to stay local to the Tugun area and are in discussions with some possible leases currently – so watch this space!
We would love to start producing our ice cream for retail as we see a gap in the market for healthy dairy ice cream.
What is your biggest tip for local business owners?
One thing that we believe is important is to get to know your customers. Build a community and the community will do the marketing for you. Word of mouth has a huge impact on customer growth (good and bad).
The other tip I would say is deliver more value than what you charge. This sounds obvious but can be overlooked. If a customer walks away with more value than what they paid for, they’re going to be way more likely to come back or share their experience with others.
