Friesland Milk Bar “Your Guarantee of Goodness” was established in 1924 by a Mr. Sonny Van Der Walt’s and his family, selling milk, yoghurts and sour milk from a shack made of wood and iron. The present building was then built in 1945 and Friesland Milk Bar started manufacturing and selling ice – cream and milkshakes a few years later in 1948. My father and mother, Mr and Mrs Cassiram took over the business in 1975 and modernized the factory whilst preserving and improving the recipes handed down to my father by Mr Van Der Walt himself. Although all of our recipes have been improved over the years, the spirit and principles have remained the same.
As the son of Mr Cassiram, I joined the family business in 2009 after completing my Bachelor Social Science degree at Rhodes University and since then, I have helped the family grow the business to include stores at Hemingway’s Mall and Peppergrove Mall in Grahamstown. We are all very excited to be opening our 4th store in Boardwalk Mall and look forward to bringing Friesland Milk Bar to our not-so-distant neighbours in Gqeberha.
We have often heard from our customers over the years that Friesland Milk Bar has become an institution in East London. Specializing in creating good quality milkshakes and ice-cream, it is not only well known in East London but throughout the rest of country. We as a family business have worked hard to always maintain and deliver quality products and we hope the people of Gqeberha will not only see but taste our passion which we believe lives in our “Your Guarantee of Goodness,” slogan.
Local newspapers have captured our ever-evolving story over the years and continue to write articles describing Friesland as one of the hotspots for all locals and holiday makers, when visiting us for the best milkshakes and ice cream in town (we like to think the country!). With the creation of a Facebook page (not of our own doing), our popularity has been celebrated by ex-East Londoners living abroad and across South Africa. The group has gone on to grow and now has 1 600 followers which goes to show and prove that ice cream does create nostalgia, because when you taste a good thing growing up, it is generally accompanied by a great memory.
More recently, Friesland Milk Bar appeared on the SABC 3 Morning Show “Expresso” and our milkshakes were rated number one in South Africa. 5FM also hosted us for an interview and visited our store to try our famous Friesland milkshakes as part of their Heritage Tour 2021. We have no doubt that this will become 5FM’s first stop whenever venturing out to East London.
As our family business continues to grow, we are all very excited for what this next chapter brings and while we prepare for the opening of our Boardwalk Mall store, we already feel connected to this exciting development, simply because ice cream goes hand in hand with the beach and a friendly city.
“Dreams are endless, who knows where you will find us next.” Sameer Cassiram – Owner of Friesland Milk Bar