On the Third Day of Coppelia’s Reopening, Everything Starts To Be Missing at the ‘Ice Cream Cathedral’

In the long lines to enter the ice cream shop, the main topic was the rapid deterioration of the emblematic State business

Private companies are far ahead of state-owned businesses in terms of diversity of flavours and quality. / 14ymedio

14ymedio bigger14ymedio, Natalia Lopez/Jose Lassa, Havana, 8 February 2025 — It has been a few days since the Coppelia ice cream shop reopened and the drop in variety of offerings has already begun to be noticed. This Friday afternoon, only two flavors were still on sale – guava and pineapple – instead of the eight that were shown as available last Wednesday on the product display at the shop. Located on the corner of 23rd and L in Havana’s Vedado neighborhood, one of the Coppelia stands to buy ice cream cones had even closed due to lack of merchandise.

In the long lines to enter the “ice cream cathedral,” the main topic was the rapid deterioration of the iconic shop. “We already know that everything here has little fijador, but the truth is that this place is fading too quickly,” commented a teenager who went in search of a chocolate and strawberry ‘salad’ — multiple scoops — based on the ads she read on social networks. “I thought I was going to find another, more beautiful sight, but it’s the same as always.”

One of the stands to buy barquillos [wafers] was closed due to lack of merchandise. / 14ymedio
With prices ranging from 30 to 40 pesos per scoop, depending on the size and combination ordered, the ice cream shop is still much cheaper than the private businesses that have proliferated in the area. However, private businesses are far ahead of state-owned businesses in terms of the variety of flavors, the quality of the toppings and add-ons, and the wide assortment of sweets. The waiting time is also not in Coppelia’s favor.

“I came at four in the afternoon and it’s already after five and I haven’t been able to get in,” lamented a mother with a small child on Friday. “I wanted to have a nice chocolate curly cake with some torticas, which they told me they had brought out on the first day, but there’s nothing left.” After an hour and a half of waiting, the woman and her daughter finally made it into one of the courts located on the ground floor. The glass of water placed on their table was another hard blow. The temperature of that liquid was as warm as the afternoon that stretched over Havana.

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