The most popular flavor at ‘Helados la Tienda” in Cuenca is Amor Brujo (Spell-bound Love). There is no description of the cryptic option on the flavor list of the small shop, and its no-nonsense owner, Maria Dolores Solano, is not telling.
Looking at her menu she laughs, “With the blackberry you know it has blackberry, with peanut you know it has peanut, with Amor Brujo all you know is it has witchcraft”
Our best guess is that witchcraft involves spirits of the alcoholic kind, but we defer to Ms. Solano. After all she is the second generation to make ice cream on Calle Silva in Cuenca Ecuador.
‘Helados La Tienda’, like many small storefronts in Ecuador, produces helados caseros – ‘homemade ice cream’. The popsicles are commonly made with milk and fresh fruit, and frozen in plastic cups. The remarkable abundance and popularity of fresh fruit in the Andean country have made helados caseros an enduring tradition in rural and urban areas alike. In the freezer boxes of small shops, or tiendas, the popsicles often rub shoulders with bolos (small bags of frozen fruit juice) and commercial ice cream. At first look the later seems to pose an existential threat to humble helados caseros.
The globalization of industrial food production over the past fifty years has led to the dominance of commercially produced ice cream in Ecuador. Particularly prevalent is the Pingüino brand, owned by the Anglo-Dutch multinational consumer goods company Unilever. Those outside of Ecuador may recognize the logo of Pingüino ice creams, if not the name. Pingüino belongs to the ‘Heartbrand’ ice-creams sold by Unilever, the world’s largest ice cream manufacturer, in 40 countries. The heart-shape logo remains the same but the name will vary from country to country (it’s Algida in Turkey and Wall’s in the UK). Before it was bought by Unilever in 1996, Pingüino was an Ecuadorian ice cream company created by Edmundo Kronfle Abud, a Libyan immigrant. Abud pioneered the use of ice cream carts or “heladeros”, which are now widespread on sunny Ecuadorean streets. Through Pingüino, Unilever currently controls 66% of the Ecuadorian ice-cream market.
A pessimistic critic of globalization could have predicted the death of helados caseros at the hand of multinationals like Unilever, in the late 80s and 90s. But several decades of drastic changes to Ecuador’s food production systems have seen the homemade ice cream survive.
“Gracias a Dios” says Maria Dolores Solano.
The enduring appeal of helados caseros is illustrated in an ironic twist, when, in 2006 Pingüino created a line of ice creams called helados caseros. According to the Unilever website the line, “highlights Ecuadorian traditional values and the flavors and customs of the country.” The ice-cream appears in popsicle form with flavors most commonly found in small tiendas. There is no data to show what impact if any, this had on the original helado casero cottage industry, but the apparent success of the line motivated Unilever to internationalize it. Heartbrand helados casero are now produced and sold in Mexico and Brazil.
Despite the resilience of helados caseros, the cottage industry has not experienced a resurgence the way that Colombian ice cream has. Traditional Colombian fruit popsicle have recently fueled the rise of trendy ‘paleterías’ that offer a huge variety of flavors and the option to dunk your purchase in chocolate. Ecuadorian ice cream has not kept pace… or at least that was what we thought.
On Sundays Helados la Tienda has a line that wraps around the block. Its location, a sleepy residential area near parque El Paraiso, is far from convenient yet the fans seemed undeterred. Tasting a popsicle ($1.20) told us why. They are rich creamy masterpieces with an ideal tecture that speaks of fresh ingredients without heavy pulp. The almond flavor tasted like pure almond butter and cream on a stick.
Helados la Tienda locally sources most of its ingredients and adjusts offerings depending on what is in season. Nowadays their storefront appears more like a traditional ice cream shop than a small tienda and the family has opened locations in Guayaquil and Ambato. So is this the Ecuadorian paletería? Yes and no. Helados la Tienda does not have the slick branding or high prices of Colombian popsicle stores, but its growth feels more natural and rooted in traditional values. Maria Dolores Solano may have redesigned her storefront in Cuenca but the location is the same property that her grandparents owned and parents opened their small tienda in. In contrast to Unilever’s version, the Solano family business certainly feels like the future of Ecuadorian helados caseros.
Helados La Tienda can be found on calle Medardo Angel Sílva 2-87 y Demetrio Aguilera Cuenca. A popsicle costs $1.20 and their hours are: 8:30 AM- 7:30 PM every day of the week. You can find them on Facebook at facebook.com/Helados-La-Tienda and Instagram @Helados_La_Tienda