19 Jul 2024

Meet the Supplier: Mackie’s Ice Cream

Mackie’s of Scotland

Transcript

Two speakers: Angus Hayhow (Head of Marketing) and Chris Law (National Account Manager)

Angus
National Trust for Scotland Meet our Suppliers: Take one!

Mackie’s makes ice cream and chocolate on the family farm in Aberdeenshire. We’re a family business on a mission to become a global Scottish brand from the greenest company in Britain. Created by people having fun.

The business began as a dairy farm. The Mackie family have been farming at Westerton Farm since around 1912 and built up a milk retail business as people began to prefer semi skimmed and skimmed milk, we found ourselves with a bit of an excess of cream which we started using to make ice cream in 1986. It wasn't long until the popularity of the ice cream led to our selling the milk business and focusing entirely on making ice cream, which we've steadily built up to become Scotland's favourite ice cream.

There are a few things that make Mackie’s unique. One would be its commitment to quality and tradition.

’Traditional’ itself is also quite unique as a product. A lot of people assume that it will be vanilla flavour, however it is just the pure and wholesome taste of fresh milk and cream which our customers love.

Chris
Here at Mackie’s, we make all of our ice cream and chocolate on the farm. While most of our sales are to the UK market, we also have export sales around the world.

Angus
Mackie’s commitment to sustainability started with my grandfather’s belief in the power and potential of wind turbines. He installed Mackie’s first turbine back in 1983 as an experiment, and on seeing its success, he and my uncle Mack pressed ahead with installing four large turbines atop the hillside farm here. We’ve also since added a 10 acre solar farm and are nearing completion of our new low carbon refrigeration system which we anticipate will reduce our refrigeration related energy use by up to 80%.

As well as our focus on energy, we’re always looking to undertake smaller positive initiatives like the planting of the last 30 years of our arboretum which boosts biodiversity by hosting over 100 species of trees, and we have installed a number of biomass boilers which provide the heat to the farm and factory buildings.

Chris
Mackie’s mini tubs are my favourite product to the Trust. They’re so flexible you can enjoy them sitting down with lunch, a coffee or as a grab and go option when out exploring.

For me, my favourite place to visit has to be Culzean Castle. The grandeur of the castle and its setting are both spectacular. What do I love about Scotland? I love that you can be in the city one minute but never too far from a stunning hill walk, fantastic beach or even a castle to explore.

In our second Meet the Supplier story, we talk to Mackie’s about their ice cream and their sustainability efforts.

Mackie’s of Scotland

We caught up with Mackie’s Head of Marketing, Angus Hayhow, about all their sustainable initiatives at the Mackie’s farm in Aberdeenshire.

How Mackie’s ice cream began

Mackie’s is a fifth-generation family business based on our family farm in Aberdeenshire. We make all our ice cream and chocolate on-site. Mackie’s is on a mission to become a global Scottish brand and the greenest company in Britain, created by people having fun! Our farm currently employs around 90 staff.

The business began as a dairy farm; the Mackie family have been farming at Westertown Farm since around 1912 and built a milk retail business. As people began to prefer semi-skimmed and skimmed milk, we found an excess of cream left over, which we used to make ice cream in 1986. It wasn’t long until the popularity of the ice cream led us to sell the milk business and focus entirely on making ice cream, which has steadily built up to become ‘Scotland’s favourite ice cream’.

Our commitment to ice cream and being green

A few things make Mackie’s unique, namely our commitment to quality and tradition. Our ‘Traditional’ ice cream is unique in itself as a product. Many people assume that it will be vanilla-flavoured, but it’s just the pure and wholesome taste of milk and cream.

This commitment to quality and tradition started with my grandfather’s belief in the power and potential of wind turbines. He installed Mackie’s first turbine in 1983 as an experiment and, on seeing its success, pressed ahead with installing four large turbines on the top of the hillside on the farm. We have also since added a 10-acre solar farm and are nearing completion of our low-carbon refrigeration system, which we anticipate will reduce our energy use by up to 80%.

In addition to our focus on energy, we are always looking to undertake smaller positive initiatives, like planting our arboretum over the last 30 years, which boosts diversity by being home to over 100 species of trees. We have also installed several biomass boilers, which provide the farm with heat.

In addition to producing our own energy, Mackie’s makes as much as it can on the farm, including our own packaging, fruit sauces and honeycomb.

Quote

“We thoroughly enjoy working alongside Mackie’s of Scotland. In addition to providing our outlets with a high-quality product, Mackie’s is an established Scottish company with excellent industry knowledge that supports our teams in many ways.
Their approach to sustainability and reducing food miles aligns so well with the Trust’s ethos and is something we are proud of.”

David Edgar

Food & Beverage Development Manager for the National Trust for Scotland

The coolest ice cream shops across the Trust

North East

Crathes Castle, Garden & Estate

Café 1702 at Crathes Castle, Garden & Estate is the perfect hangout for all the family, serving delicious, freshly prepared hot and cold food, including an unrivalled selection of home-baked treats and ice cream. Enjoy a wide selection of drinks – if the weather’s a bit cold, don’t miss out on their famous ‘extreme hot chocolate’! With indoor and outdoor seating, Café 1702 also has a children’s play area to occupy your wee ones, making it an ideal stop when visiting Crathes Castle.

They’re also dog-friendly, with water bowls and complimentary dog biscuits – not to mention special doggy ice cream!

Haddo House

Stroll through the delightful terrace garden with an ice cream in hand, and once that’s polished off, take a tour around the home of the story-rich Gordon family, who lived at Haddo House for more than 400 years.

A younger woman and an older woman sit at a table in the sunshine. The younger woman hold an ice cream cone with a scoop of brown coloured ice cream.

A hand holds an ice cream cone with a scoop of mint chocolate chip ice cream (green with brown flecks). Open tubs of ice cream are seen in the background

Highlands & Islands

Brodie Castle & Estate

The Playful Café at Brodie Castle & Estate serves hot and cold refreshments, a selection of baked goods, soup, sandwiches, and ice cream. After exploring the castle, estate or playing in the Playful Garden, treat yourself to an ice cream.

Or why not try making your own ice cream at home using an adapted recipe from Mairi Sawyer’s collection in our Inverewe archives?

Follow the recipe

Two shallow dishes, one with two scoops and one with three scoops of vanilla ice cream. A jar of colourful sprinkles is at the top of the image.

Edinburgh & East

Gladstone’s Land

Gladstone’s Land’s long trading history continues to this day, with its ice cream parlour and coffee shop on the ground floor.

This has been inspired by the refreshment rooms and ice cream shops prevalent on the Lawnmarket in Edinburgh between the 19th and 20th centuries, as well as the public houses and dairies that operated out of the property.

Steeped in history, the ice cream parlour is the perfect place to relax after a visit to the house upstairs, catch up with friends, or pop in for an afternoon treat.

They serve various flavours, including their exclusive Gladstone’s Land flavour: elderflower and lemon curd. They also offer sundaes, delicious cakes and hot drinks, which you can enjoy either to sit in or take away.

Newhailes House & Gardens

After enjoying all that Newhailes House & Gardens has to offer, you can treat yourself to a delicious lunch in our recently renovated Stables Café. We serve a range of tasty soups, sandwiches and sweet treats – there’s something to please all the family.

We recently refurbished the Dairy into an ice cream parlour and traditional sweet shop. Situated just opposite the entrance to Weehailes Playpark, you can pop in to choose from a wide range of flavours.

And when the wind is blowing in from the Forth, you can sit in the café with a warming hot drink and a delicious piece of cake.

A view of the ice cream counter at Gladstone’s Land. The well-lit glass-fronted freezer has many different flavours of ice cream on display. Takeaway tubs are neatly stacked on top. At the end of the freezer cabinet is an open counter with plates of scones and home baking on it.

A man and a woman stand behind a serving counter. A man working behind the counter is handing the woman an ice cream cone. There are a variety of cakes and biscuits available to purchase on the counter.

South & West

Brodick Castle, Garden & Country Park

At Brodick Castle, Garden & Country Park, you can enjoy soft-serve ice cream from the play park kiosk and a range of ice creams from the main café.

Culzean Castle & Country Park

Enjoy Mackie’s ice cream from the Aviary Ice Cream Parlour at Culzean Castle & Country Park. Mackie’s mini ice cream tubs can be purchased from the Swan Pond Café and Home Farm Kitchen when the Aviary is closed.

Robert Burns Birthplace Museum

On a sunny day, you can sit outside and enjoy the garden at Robert Burns Birthplace Museum. Dogs are welcome in the garden on a lead, so your four-legged friends can join you for a coffee break, or you can pop in for a cup of tea or an ice cream and treat yourself after your walk.