Edmonton’s new ice cream shop showcasing Filipino flavours is thrilled by overwhelming support
Abby Ulanimo has always loved ice cream but didn’t plan on making it; however, all that changed after a trip to the Philippines in 2019.
During this trip, the entrepreneur and second-generation Filipino Canadian discovered her passion for street food and exploring her roots, eventually leading her to leave the corporate world behind and run her ice cream business full-time, but not before several setbacks.
In 2020, Ulanimo launched DRTY Ice Cream as a side hustle while working her accounting job, stocking freezers at small businesses and cafes.
The small-scale operation partnered with small businesses, stocking freezers in cafes and specialty stores. Things went great during the first year, but as the business began to peak, Ulanimo experienced a string of bad luck.
“In 2021, my garage was broken into, a bunch of our ice cream was stolen, some equipment was stolen, and we were set back quite a bit,” Ulanimo explained. “The community really came together—we even had Kind Ice Cream reach out and invite us to make ice cream in their kitchen to catch up on orders.”
In 2022, however, two car accidents jeopardized everything she had worked toward. Her car and delivery van were both write-offs.
“I was very injured, and I had to stop. Unfortunately, we had to shut down all our vendor locations.”
While recovering from injuries and on leave from work, she began questioning her future — until an opportunity at Station Park cropped up. Prior to the market’s construction, the lot hosted summer night markets where DRTY Ice Cream was one of the vendors. When a chance to secure a permanent storefront came up, Ulanimo took it, opening DRTY Ice Cream in early February.
Despite the wicked cold snap, the opening weekend was a success.
“We opened in -30°C at 11 a.m., and we had customers coming; we were blown away,” she said. “We actually sold out one weekend in -30°C.”
“It was really comforting to see the support.”
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DRTY Ice Cream is inspired by Filipino sorbetes, a popular street food in the Philippines. It’s hand-churned ice cream that is served from colourful wooden pushcarts on busy streets. Since the ice cream is made and served in the city streets, the locals called it “dirty ice cream” as a joke, and the name caught on.
The menu features items like the Sorbabies, four small scoops of ice cream served in a cardboard cutout with a hole for your thumb, inspired by Thumbs Up, an ice cream spot in the Philippines.
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While traditional sorbetes is made with ingredients like caribou milk and cassava starch, Ulanimo adapts her recipes using North American ingredients.
“We are lucky enough to have access to great ingredients in Canada. So our ice cream is a North American recipe, but we use Filipino flavours and desserts to inspire the taste,” she explains.
Popular flavours include Ube Hell Yeah (purple yam flavour), Mangga Gala (inspired by a Filipino dessert made with graham crackers, mangoes, and condensed milk), and Cheesemosa (a cheese-flavoured ice cream playing on Filipino slang for a gossip).
Looking ahead, Ulanimo is planning for expansion as demand has consistently exceeded supply. She’s exploring options for a new production space and has partnered with local restaurants to supply her ice cream.
“I think Filipino cuisine’s been super underrated for a long time, and I think there’s a new appreciation for it.”
DRTY Ice Cream
Address: 8125 Gateway Blvd. NW