Cows is a Canadian ice cream manufacturer and chain of ice cream parlors based in Charlottetown, Prince Edward Island. Cows was founded in Cavendish, Prince Edward Island in 1983, and has since expanded into cheddar cheese, and cow-themed merchandise. Cows was named “Canada’s best ice cream” in a survey of readers of Reader’s Digest and named the world’s top place to get ice cream by Tauck World Discovery.
In 2006 Cows expanded their brand to include cheddar cheese. The expansion came after Cows owner Scott Linkletter took a trip to the Orkney Islands in Northern Scotland. Linkletter was taken by the local cheese and partnered with a local cheese maker who would give him the recipe which would in turn be the foundation for Cows “signature cheese”, Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar. While developing the recipe for Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar, Linletter and Prince Edward Island cheese maker Armand Bernard created a second cheese, PEI Cheddar.
The company makes Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar in 10 kilograms (22 lb) wheels, and ages it for 12 months. Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar gets the “clothbound” name from the “traditional cheddar-making technique”, of wrapping it in cheese cloth, a method that originated in Somerset, England (the town of Cheddar, where Cheddar cheese gets its name from is in the county of Somerset). The name Avonlea comes from link between Prince Edward Island and Anne of Green Gables. Avonlea Clothbound Cheddar won its category’s second prize at the 2008 Chicago conference of the American Cheese Society.
Cows produce over 32 varieties of ice cream, with flavors such as “Gooey Mooey” and “Wowie Cowie”.
