Luxury ice cream maker to launch frozen yoghurt

Glastry Farm Ice Cream, Northern Ireland's luxury ice cream maker, is planning to launch a new frozen yoghurt product, the first to be produced in the region.

Development of frozen yoghurt is part of a substantial expansion of the artisan dairy operation by Will Taylor, the founder and managing director of the farm-based business.

In addition to providing greater scope for new products, the expansion is aimed to enable the company to meet the growing demand particularly in the Republic of Ireland for its award winning luxury ice creams and sorbets.

The company, a farm diversification business which has won recognition for its gourmet ice cream from the Great British Menu television programme, has received planning permission for new developments which will see an eight fold increase in output and new jobs.

Mr Taylor says the company is bucking the current economic downturn by providing customers with quality products 'straight from the farm'. Milk from the farm's own Holstein-Friesian animals, which graze the lush pastures on the Ards Peninsula, an area of natural beauty, goes directly to the on-farm processing plant for the ice cream and sorbets.

"The decision to expand the business has been influenced by a sharp increase in sales, particularly to foodservice customers, such several major hotels, in key Irish centres such as Dublin, Cork, Galway and Galway from a distribution agreement there.

"Customers are increasingly recognising the strength of our commitment to innovation - the frozen yoghurt is another example of this - and have also produced low fat, dairy free sorbets. New ideas is what our customers and consumers are demanding, and we are responding, trying to stay ahead of the competition in particularly challenging times," he adds.

The milk is unique because it has Red Tractor quality accreditation, while the ice cream and sorbets have Safe and Local Supplier Accreditation. The company now offers around 20 flavours of ice cream and sorbets. Among its most innovative and successful is Kilbeggan Ice Cream from whiskey distilled near Carlingford Lough in the Republic of Ireland.

The company's move into frozen yoghurt coincides with new market research by Startups, which projects significant growth opportunities for the dessert especially with young consumers. In the US, for instance, the frozen yogurt market is huge, while it is still quite small in Europe and offers significant growth potential. Market researchers like Mintel expect the sector to grow rapidly because frozen yoghurt is being seen increasingly as a healthier dessert.