'We don't deliver to Pakistan': What ice cream company boss wrote to local Muslim customer who asked about pork-based gelatin

A century-old ice cream company in a small Montana town has been branded 'racist' after the president's told a local Muslim customer on Facebook: 'We certainly don't deliver to Pakistan.'

The row began on September 21 when a customer from Sheridan, Wyoming, posted on the Facebook page for Wilcoxson's Ice Cream of Livingston, Montana, and asked if the company used pork-based gelatin.



The Facebook user said he was Muslim and enjoyed Wilcoxson's flavors asked which ones she should eat to avoid pork products.



Furor: This is the redacted exchange between a Muslim customer and the president of Wilcoxson's Ice Cream that brought the company under criticism

Local favorite: Wilcoxsons' Ice Cream, which has been in business for more than 100 years, is defending itself from the allegations

Company president Matt Schaeffer replied: 'We don't deliver outside Montana, certainly not Pakistan.'

The customer was indignant.

'What are u talking about!!??? I think.ur comment is rude to assume i live in Pakistan,' he wrote. 'I live in Sheridan but just because of your ignorance i wont buy your ice cream and definetly wont recommend it.'

Mr Schaeffer told the Bozeman Daily Chronicle that there was an icon next to the customer's Facebook profile that led him to believe he was in Pakistan.

He said his response was merely a statement of fact and that he never intended to be offensive.



A screenshot of the conversation, which blurs the names of those involved, shows that the Facebook comment from the customer had a location stamp of Sheridan, Wyoming.



'I apologize if he took it wrong, that’s not what I meant by it. I guess I didn’t read the whole thing,' he told the newspaper.



Lashing out: This is just one of the angry comments posted on the company's Yelp page after the president took down its Facebook listing

When the exchange spread across Facebook, ugly comments poured in from people who accused the company of being racist.



'There were cuss words. It was just bad, so I just took (the Facebook page) down,' Mr Schaeffer said.



Angry comments poured in on the company's Yelp review page.

'People of all religions and backgrounds love to eat ice cream -- but people of all religions and background don't support Wilcoxson's asinine bigotry and discrimination,' one user said. 'Wilcoxson's is a horrible company run by hateful people.'

'There you have it. Nothing bogus here,' another Yelp reviewer said. 'Just a plain racist islamaphobic establishment. Definitely wouldn't get anything from here.'

None of angry commenters seemed to be from anywhere near Montana or other places where the ice cream is available.