Meet the Grammy behind Shaw's best-selling ice cream flavour

CBC

31-05-2025

Meet the Grammy behind Shaw's most popular ice cream flavour
6 minutes ago
Duration 3:57
When it comes to ice cream flavours, it turns out Grammy knows best.
Shaw's Ice Cream is a family business, so when it comes to their most popular flavour creation, the three sisters who run the company looked to their Grammy's cupboard for inspiration.
"So growing up, we would always visit our Grammy, and she'd have her homemade chocolate chip cookies, homemade peanut butter cookies, and these little brownies in the cupboard," said Kelly Heleniak, co-owner of Shaw's Ice Cream. "We thought, 'Hey, what if we throw together all of these ideas, and we have a flavour called Grammy's Cupboard?'"
The blend of vanilla ice cream, peanut butter ripple, cookie dough and brownie pieces is the company's top-selling flavour, all credited to Grammy's inspiration.
"I can't believe it; I'm just amazed," said Dorthy McLaughlin, the 92-year-old known as Grammy to her 14 grandchildren and 27 great-grandchildren. "I'm happy to be in this role."
McLaughlin said she will often check the freezer section in grocery stores to see if her flavour is in stock.
"There was a young guy filling up the shelves with ice cream, and I said to him, "Have you ever tried Grammy's Cupboard?" And then I told him I was the Grammy, because I always say I'm the Grammy," she said.
On another occasion, McLaughlin was at Shaw's shop at 100 Kellogg Lane and was asked to take a photo with a fan of the flavour.
"Grammy turned 92 this year, so it keeps her days interesting," said Heleniak. "I picked her up the other day because the local grocery store in Tillsonburg is carrying her flavour and wanted to bring in mass quantities. They had a whole door full of Grammy's, and I got a picture of her in front of the door. We posted it on our social media, and it just really snowballed."
Shaw's Ice Cream was established in 1948. Heleniak and her sisters Kim McCutchen and Kristine Hayes took over the business in 2001 at a time when it was struggling and turned it into what is now local scoop shops in London and St. Thomas, a production facility in Tillsonburg, and ice cream that can be found in major grocery stores across the country.