About RSS Hereford

The RSS Hereford story

'RSS provided the initial idea of making our own ice cream 9 years ago and have continued to help us to develop our business to this day – ice cream is now our life!’
Paul and Eirlys Cole, Llanfaes Dairy, Brecon

RSS celebrated 30 years in business in November 2007.

30 years trading is quite an achievement in today’s fast and competitive business environment. John James started RSS, then known as Refrigeration Sales and Service, in 1976 to provide sales and service of commercial refrigeration equipment to the local Herefordshire market place. This still continues today under a sister company RSSAC Ltd.

The business took on a growth spurt with the introduction of soft ice cream machines to the UK when RSS held the agency for Carpigiani for the South West, Wales and border counties.

It was during his sales trips to Italy that John became passionate about the Italian ice cream parlour, or Gelateria, and the product that is artisan Italian ice cream – not bad for someone who doesn’t like ice cream!

He even went as far as putting his money where his mouth was and opened his own ice cream parlour in Hereford town centre.

John and RSS Hereford have now been working for over 30 years to encourage more UK ice cream manufacturers and ice cream parlours, to rise to the standards that the Italian and German consumers insist on.

John says, “Although we eat a lot of ice cream in the UK, the majority of the original artisan makers have grown into mass producers where the product is always deep frozen prior to selling. As the fast food and coffee shop market has become more competitive, the true artisan ice cream parlour has become lost amongst hamburgers, cooked breakfasts and chips, swallowed up in a world full of Formica and plastic.”

Finally, however, with the fashion for organic products and the heightened consumer interest in what we are eating, consumers are beginning to expect the full Italian experience of a good artisan ice cream, from the product to the environment where it is eaten.

John, as he approaches the age of retirement, is beginning to enjoy the growth in artisan ice cream makers especially amongst the farming community. His children, Alison and Neil have now taken over a thriving business and are looking forward to building it and being the next generation of Jameses to support the artisan ice cream industry.