WESTMINSTER, Vt. – For those locals who may be looking for an interesting new spot to enjoy a cool summer treat, look no further than The Blue Pig, an adorable new ice cream parlor located along Route 5, at the corner of the Interstate 91 access road, next to Allen Brothers and the Fit Body Boot Camp.
Recently opened in June by owner Lisa Moir, The Blue Pig sources only the freshest local ingredients. From the milk, maple syrup, mint, and fresh berry picking, to the homemade fudge and salted caramel, they certainly put their own on-site, 3,000-square-foot garden to good use.
Of course, none of this is new to Moir, as she opened her original Blue Pig Ice Cream operation some 15 years ago, located in Croton-on-Hudson in New York. “I had been a social worker for over 20 years, and when the recession hit around Covid, I had to make a change, and somehow the stars aligned when I bought a little ice cream store in the Hudson Valley,” Lisa said in a recent interview.
“Having never made ice cream in my life, I focused on locally sourced, farm-to-table ingredients, and made everything from scratch. This formula worked well, and the business really took off, and then 15 years later, we decided to move north.”
After buying property in the area some 10 years ago, Moir and her husband have been building a home “off the grid,” and all the while Moir was searching for the right location to open a new Blue Pig Ice Cream shop.
“We really care about our environment, and wanted to build off grid and get away from fossil fuels altogether,” Moir said. “We’d been looking for the last six years, trying to find the right spot for a shop, but between the pandemic and real estate values almost doubling in the past few years, we were really priced out of the commercial real estate market for a while.”
Then, the former antique shop located at 5859 Route 5 in Westminster became available, and Moir was thrilled, feeling that the space could really work for what she was envisioning. “I’m really doing a similar business to what I built in New York,” she added. “I sold that ice cream business in the Hudson Valley so I could solely concentrate on our new home and business.”
After obtaining the new property, Moir built out a new kitchen in the shop, as well as creating new parking, outside seating in front, and a new garden area on the side of the shop where patrons can relax at picnic tables.
The Blue Pig offers the finest hand-crafted ice cream made from the purest natural ingredients straight from a local farm and their own garden. They wash and hull every strawberry, juice pounds of fresh ginger, hand-grate cups of lemon zest, and toast each nut that goes into their gourmet ice creams. Some of their unique homemade flavors include a peach jam swirl, a local maple flavor, a local honey with lavender, a salted caramel swirl, and a classic French vanilla.
During the off season, Moir plans to create a more inviting and accessible parking area, as well as opening up the garden area with new ideas as well. Please visit The Blue Pig, on Route 5 in Westminster, Vt.