Existing Companies; Mackeys Ice Cream

We began making ice cream on our farm in Aberdeenshire in 1986. Now 70 staff and 500 cows work in a 'sky to scoop” design chain. Our wind turbines generate our power, we grow crops to feed the cows to produce the fresh milk and cream we need to make ice cream. Find out more about our vision, values and the way we work here.

The companies vision

= is to be a global brand from the greenest company in Britain created by people having fun.

The main elements in our vision are

- to build our brand and increase export (which includes England and the rest of the world),
- to look after our environment and continually reduce our carbon footprint (leaving nothing behind except ice cream)
- to have fun.


Ice Cream

Production began with tests and small batches made by hand in the corner of the milk packing dairy. In 1993 we created a new ice cream dairy - housed in an existing farm building, which originally was a milking byre, then a grain mill. The original water wheel is still in place but inside the "olde worlde" appearance is replaced by state of the art, high care production facilities with the capacity to produce more than 10 million litres per year

'To make our ice cream, fresh cream is mixed with milk and a computer-controlled system ensures the right quantities of milk and cream are delivered to the mixing vessel. The dry ingredients are then added and the mixture is pasteurized. The effect of this pasteurisation is to make sure that all harmful organisms which may be present in the original raw materials are made harmless.
Next, to make sure that the fats in the mixture are as small as possible the mix is homogenised. In this process the fats are reduced to very small sized globules which do not rise on standing. This also means that the final ice cream has a satisfyingly smooth texture.
Following these two processes the mix is rapidly cooled and mixed in ageing tanks at a low temperature so that it will freeze better. It is then frozen in large freezers, which whip the desired amount of air into the product so that it is pleasant to eat. At the same time the temperature is reduced so that the ice cream becomes more solid. At the last moment before filling tubs, the fruit and any other flavour ingredients are added.
The ice cream mixture is poured into tubs which travel through our blast freezer to freeze the ice cream quickly – which helps create a smooth texture. The ice cream is frozen hard in under an hour and then packed onto pallets and kept in our cold store before shipping out to stores. Rigorous quality control tests are carried out throughout the process and before it is released for distribution to the shops. Thereafter it is best for the ice cream to be kept at temperature of - 18C on it's way to you. '