By Brooke Hall
Baltimore Watchdog Staff Writer
In a downtown Baltimore neighborhood hungry for a healthier treat, Cajou Creamery is making history as the nation’s first Black-owned cashew-milk ice cream shop.
By handcrafting every scoop from just cashews and water, the shop is trying to show that plant-based dessert can be both clean and culturally rich. In addition, the ice cream was created for people with dairy and gluten allergies.
The owners, Nicole Foster and Dwight Campbell, who are married, said they had the idea of opening the ice cream shop shortly after the birth of their son, who has dairy and soy allergies. They wanted to give him a healthy ice cream option.
Campbell said that most plant-based ice cream options contain fillers and high amounts of sugar. He said Cajou Creamery wanted to be different.
To make the flavors more authentic and natural, Campbell said some ingredients come from Mexico, where Foster lives full time raising their 18-year-old son.
Campbell, who lives full-time in Baltimore, is currently running the store’s operations and getting ready to expand in the near future.
“We don’t believe we have competitors at all,” Campbell said. “The value proposition this product has is beyond what any Fortune 500 companies are willing to go to.”
When the business started in 2018, the company sold pints of ice cream in other peoples’ shops in D.C.
It now has its own store on North Howard Street and is open from 12 noon to early evening five days a week. Although the location was not the owner’s first choice, Campbell said it has been a great first store because customers have come from all over to try the ice cream.
This ice cream shop is for people who are conscious of what they put in their bodies, Campbell said.
He said Cajou Creamery’s ice cream has significantly less sugar than most other ice cream brands.
One of their most popular flavors, Horchata, has about 18 grams of sugar, which is much lower than most ice cream, Campbell said.
Cameron Travis, a student at Towson University who has a dairy allergy, said this ice cream shop gave her a great and healthy ice cream option for someone who struggles with finding good alternatives.
“My favorite flavor was the Bourbon Pecan,” Travis said. “My friends without the allergy tried it and said it tasted just like real dairy ice cream.”
One of the biggest challenges the creamery faced when opening was money. Business started to succeed when people got word of how good the ice cream was. Once they got past that hurdle, the next step was getting the word out that the shop was in business.
“Nothing is scheduled; everything is all at the same time, and there is no handbook to help you out,” Campbell said about starting a new business. The dos and don’ts come and go as you learn the process, Campbell explained.
Each flavor is inspired by global places and spices. Some of the cultures include Indian-inspired Mango Lassi, Turkish Baklava, Cuban café con leche, Latin American Horchata and Carribbean Soursop.
The flavors change every day based on the ingredients they have in store, Campbell said. He said real ingredients are imported from Mexico to create some of their iconic flavors.
In addition to the standard Vanilla and Chocolate, the creamery serves up Bourbon Pecan, Blueberry Cheesecake, Biscoff Cookies n Cream and Sweet Potato Pie, just to name a few.
Campbell said the creamery is working on a plan to move the shop to a new location in the near future.
Customers who cannot make it to the store can shop online and have it shipped to them.
The store hours are Thursday-Saturday 12 p.m. to 6 p.m. and Sunday from 12 p.m. to 5 p.m. The website is https://cajoucreamery.com/ and the Instagram page is @cajoucreamery.