After a four-year hiatus, a popular ice cream bar business is back

Summer weather has (finally) arrived in Toronto, and with it, our craving for ice cream in all forms. Fortunately, a midtown shop that once went viral for its ice cream bars is back after a four-year break.

With freshly minted commerce and psychology degrees—but zero culinary experience—sisters Chloe and Sydney Carron first launched their ice cream business in Muskoka back in 2021. Bar32 was born from pandemic boredom and a fortuitous inheritance: a commercial ice cream machine from their grandparents’ restaurant.

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After a few at-home experiments, they converted an old horse trailer into a mobile pop-up shop in Port Carling, then started offering dockside delivery via boat across Lake Muskoka.

“It was one of the most fun things we’ve ever done,” says Chloe. The following year, they gave the brand a brick-and-mortar home in Toronto, in the former location of a long-standing Summerhill ice cream shop they had visited as kids. But, as the summer drew to a close, so did Bar32.

Four years later, the handmade ice cream bars are back for the summer at their same Macpherson Avenue location. “We always wanted to create a community hub where people can stop in any night of the week, grab an ice cream, bump into friends and just hang out,” says Chloe. “That nostalgic, impromptu summer feeling is at the heart of what Bar32 is all about. We had regulars stopping us on the street, asking when we’d reopen. We’re thrilled to be back in the same spot for the summer, in the same neighbourhood that supported us from the start.”

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The current flavour lineup includes salted caramel, vanilla, pistachio, raspberry, blueberry and mango—all mixed by the sisters themselves, using whole ingredients and no preservatives, additives or artificial sweeteners, then hand-dipped in chocolate. “The process is a labour of love. We’re always looking for new ideas, so if you send your favourite flavour our way, you might find it in the shop,” says Chloe.

Customers can grab bars to go from the bright little storefront or sit and enjoy them on the picnic benches outside. In addition to ice cream bars, the sisters are offering scoops of Kawartha Dairy ice cream and a small Detour coffee program that includes affogatos. A selection of pastries—some made by Charlotte, the third Carron sister—will join the lineup in the coming weeks.

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But the bars won’t stick around forever. In late September, jewellery brand Jude, the storefront’s prior occupant, will return to the building while the sisters do some travelling before heading back to their day jobs.

“Bar32 is very much a passion project. We both work full time year-round outside the shop, so we pour ourselves into the summer season with everything we’ve got,” says Chloe. “We’re the kind of people who need to be building something, whether that’s a business, a skill set or an itinerary. As for Bar32—we’ll see where this summer takes us. We’re just really happy to be back.”