While outside the sparrows fall from the roof, Wally closes the top button of his coat again. His colleague on the forklift is even wearing a hat and thick gloves. It is almost 30 degrees below zero in the ice factory of IJspaleis in Sprundel and winter clothes are no superfluous luxury. “Welcome to one of the coldest places in Brabant”, laughs Wally Gijzen, director of the ice cream factory.
He has no trouble keeping a cool head. Not to mention heat stress: “Here in the cold store it is almost 70 degrees different from the outside temperature,” explains the director, pointing to the thermometer.
“We are now running ice for 16 hours a day.”
In the production hall where the ice cream is made, it is now a lot more comfortable with 18 degrees above zero than outside. They don’t need air conditioning for this. The ice cream cakes and ice cream trays on the conveyor belt radiate sufficient coolness.
These are busy days for Wally and his colleagues. Due to the high outside temperatures, there is a lot of demand for the cooling ice creams. “We are now running 16 hours a day and if this continues for a long time, we will switch to 24 hours a day.”
“I’m taking a tour of the factory with an ice cream.”
Incidentally, days that are too hot are not favorable for ice cream consumption. If the temperature rises above 30 degrees, people are more likely to opt for a glass of water or a cold beer. “We therefore prefer a summer in which warm and cool periods alternate.”
On this sweltering Tuesday, some 60,000 trays of mango passion fruit ice cream roll off the assembly line in Sprundel. Wally doesn’t get hot or cold. “If I get too hot in the office, I take a tour of the factory with an ice cream and then I can go back to it for hours.”
