Two leading Scottish farm-based food brands have teamed up to produce a range of fruity ice creams.
Well-known ice cream maker Mackie’s of Scotland, which is based at Westertown near Rothienorman, has sourced fruit from the Mitchell family at Castleton Farm near Laurencekirk for a duo of new ice cream flavours.
Described as representing a “celebration of locally-grown summer fruits”, the two new flavours are White Chocolate and Raspberry and Strawberry Swirl.
Mackie’s said it had invested in a new technology to produce the ice creams – a saucing machine with gentle processing technology for the whole fruit.
The company’s development director, Kirstin McNutt, said: “We’re delighted to be working with local fruit farm Castleton.
“Mackie’s and Castleton are two companies with similar ethos: both are family businesses, aim to be self-sufficient in renewable energy and, of course, have a love of desserts.”
Businesses have similar values
Castleton Farm’s packing manager, Aileen MacDonald, hailed the partnership and said the ice cream was made using raspberries and strawberries which are frozen on the day they are picked to protect quality.
She added: “Enabled by a mix of polytunnels and biomass heat, our growing season runs from March to December, meaning we have plenty of fresh local fruit on hand to supply throughout the year.”
Both new ice cream flavours will be available across the UK, with the White Chocolate and Raspberry ice cream initially available in Tesco in Scotland and Ocado in England and Wales, while the Strawberry Swirl will be in Scottish Tesco stores and Sainsbury’s stores across the UK.
