Ice cream parlours have been struggling to keep up with demand as temperatures soar, with freezers straining to handle the heat and customers queuing out the doors.
An ice cream shop in New Brighton. Photo: RNZ / Conan Young
The heat has already broken some records as a wave of high temperatures from Australia sweeps across New Zealand.
Waikato and the King Country will be the hottest spots, with a sweltering 34C forecast for Taumaranui and Te Kūiti and a high of 32C on the way for Hamilton.
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- Heat updates: day two
- Water inflatables and small craft warning
- Today's wrap: heat set to continue
- Keeping yourself and your pets cool
- Health and fire warnings ahead of heat wave
General manager of Rush Munro's icecream based in Hastings, Vaughan Currie, said volumes were definitely up.
"On average the store would expect to be serving between 300 and 450 cones a day but with the heat we've climbed to an average of 550 to 600 cones in the last three days, so very very busy.
It had affected the equipment, he said.
"It's important that we've got all systems ready to go and generally we staff up accordingly to try and kept those queues down if we can.
"We've had three solid days of high temperatures, little bit of pressure placed on the equipment but I think we're ready to go today."
"It certainly puts the pressure on."
He said despite the heat, punters were still opting mostly for cream-heavy flavours.
"The top flavours would have to be chocolate, feijoa, salted caramel and passionfruit this summer."
The high demand can be a hazard for staff too - with Mr Currie saying ice cream servers could get sore arms.
"They do get sore arms and you've got to really really put your back into it, literally, with some of these flavours that are quite ingredient dense," he said.
"At the same time you've got to back off when you put it in the cone.
"I'm hopeless actually... I'll roll a really good ice cream but I've got to remember that you've got to be a bit careful with those cones, make sure that you don't break them."
