Ira and May Smith have a love for ice and sell their frosty cubes to stores across the city so people can keep their drinks cool this summer.

The couple own Smith Ice, which has been supplying GTA residents with tonnes of cube ice, block ice, shaved ice or large-bagged ice for 20 years.

They have a large ice factory in Scarborough, from which they refill the shelves of hundreds of supermarkets, variety stores, pubs and taverns in Etobicoke and elsewhere.

It is believed that they are the first black family to own an ice factory in Toronto.

Ira grew up in Jamaica, where he helped his grandfather sell ice in the streets to people.

“I used to help him fetch the big blocks of ice from the truck,” he recalls.

“My grandfather instilled the love of ice to me as a kid,” Smith says proudly. “After I came to Canada at the age of 13, I was making ice from trays that I bought at Canadian Tire.”

He graduated from trays and moved to a larger ice maker. Ice making then went from being a hobby in the basement to now owning an ice factory at 120 Barbados Blvd., in Scarborough.

“We were founded in the basement of our old house,” Ira explains. “Smith Ice grew out of the basement into the backyard and eventually into a warehouse manufacturing facility.”

He freezes tonnes of ice at the factory, which is sold mostly in cubes in varying size bags to a network of gas station ice boxes, supermarkets, variety stores and bars.

On this day, the couple are refilling a store on Horner Ave. with their ice.

“We carry a wide spectrum of ice products to meet your chilling need,” he says. “We have been in business for 20-plus years and provide a host of bagged ice products to many companies throughout Toronto and GTA.”

Smith Ice has grown from humble beginnings in a small garage to a full service Ice facility with over 20 tonnes and growing capacity a day.

“Every year we strive to increase this number and offer our clients and customers better quality ice and faster service,” May says.

They provide innovative solutions for their businesses, such as larger ice storage freezers when demand is high and rush service for when they need the product quickly.

“Smith Ice stands by our customers and views each one of our vendors as not only family, but an extension of our own brand,” she says.

Ira adds ‘our team is comprised of people who take pride in what they do and aspire to do the best job possible to make certain that orders get loaded and delivered in a timely, efficient manner with a smile on our face.’

“As we continue to grow in the future, we will not lose sight of where we came from and what got us there: equal portions of hard-work, positivity, a commitment to excellence and a can-do attitude. “

Smith Ice can be reached at 416-750-0655 or email info@smithice.com