National Post

Cold War: Two ice-cream vendors fight for prime turf
Parked in his usual spot on a tree-lined street in the Upper Beaches, Liaqat Ali stands in front of his Donkey Kone truck and shakes his head. Just across the street, Mohammad Alkhatatbeh sells his own frozen treats to a steady line of customers for less, far less.

“Anytime I sell ice cream, he sells it for a lower price,” Mr. Ali says, pointing to his competitor. “Yesterday I sold a cone for 25¢.”

Summer may still be a distant dream for those enduring Toronto’s cool, wet spring, but the ice cream wars have already begun. Though an annual city-issued license permits trucks to travel freely throughout the city, hostility over which vendors can sell ice cream on which routes sparks nasty territorial battles: Screaming matches, threats and tricks to undercut competitors’ business are said to be regular occurrences for the city’s 118 licensed ice cream truck vendors.

“It’s a cut-throat business,” says Chris Karadimas, owner of Donkey Kone & Johnny Cones Ice Cream. (Photo: Tyler Anderson/National Post)