All aboard the new Banana Boat

Hey there, time traveller!
This article was published 05/11/2018 (2717 days ago), so information in it may no longer be current.

Hui Chen definitely has an appetite for success.

Chen is the owner of the Banana Boat, which is located at 25-166 Meadowood Dr. in St. Vital.

The Fort Garry resident opened the doors to the business late in the spring, and has spent the last few months working hard to establish herself in the southeast Winnipeg community by creating a growing selection of tantalizing treats.

Technically speaking, of course, this is Banana Boat 2.0. The original location on Osborne Street was a mainstay on the Fort Rouge landscape for several decades before it was torn down in 2016. Chen, who immigrated to Winnipeg from Nanjing, China in 2011, bought the original Banana Boat a few years later, and owned it for around 18 months before it closed. After regrouping, Chen eventually found the new location immediately south of St. Vital Centre late last year, and now the entrepreneur is relishing the challenge of building her new enterprise from the ground up.

“Lots of people don’t know I’m here now,” Chen said, noting her son, Yang Bao, also helps out with the business, along with several staff. Chen emigrated with her son, who came to Winnipeg to study civil engineering at the University of Manitoba.

“So, I’m very touched when people come into the shop that I’ve haven’t seen for some time, as it makes me feel very happy. I’m so touched and thankful that people still love the Banana Boat,” she added, noting she worked up to 14 hours a day, seven days a week during the busy peak periods during the summer.

Chen said the Banana Boat’s best-selling items include hard and soft ice cream, milkshakes, and rolled ice cream. The later item, called matcha rolls, are made with fresh fruit, and come in variety of flavours such as blueberry, strawberry, pineapple, and mango. The process involves flattening hard ice cream on a countertop, and rolling it up into swirls, Chen said. And to add a nod to the past, the signature banana boat sundae-style dessert also maintains its popularity among visitors.

To help keep the business competitive in the winter months, Chen is hoping to supplement sales by adopting a café-style approach, and serving tea and coffee, as well extending her product range to include pastries and cakes.

“I want people to be able to come in and sit down and have a cup of tea or coffee and relax. I want to be open year-round next year.”

To help fulfil her goal, the business will be closed from around the start of December and January, and Chen hopes to reopen around Valentine’s Day next year. During this period, she will be returning to China to attend to family matters, spend time with sick relative, and take some more baking lessons to help her hit the ground running when she reopens in February.

“I’m very happy to be the owner of the Banana Boat, and carry on the name and spread the word. This store is my whole life,” Chen said, adding she is driven to learn new skills and continue to push herself. “Manitobans really love their ice cream.”  

      
Visit Banana Boat Ice Cream on Facebook for more information.