Morwick Ice Cream Parlour, Northumberland

Michael and Angie Howies, who farm at Morwick in Northumberland, met RSS Hereford at the ICA exhibition in 2000. Like many dairy farmers, they were struggling to make ends meet on the money they made selling their milk to a dairy. John and Neil James confirmed Michael and Angie’s belief that diversifying into artisan ice cream production would provide a reliable and profitable revenue stream.

With much-valued support and advice from RSS Hereford, the Howies’ ice cream parlour opened in 2002. Morwick Ice Cream Parlour is open from 11am to 6pm in the season and includes a children’s play area and a viewing area so customers can see exactly how their ice cream is made. The Parlour offers thirty five flavours and seasonal ice cream cakes too. Angie and Michael proudly report that the Parlour is always busy and everyone comments on the glorious taste of the ice cream.

The Howies’ have an award-winning dairy herd of pedigree Holsteins and Ayrshires and the quality of the herd’s milk is reflected in the quality of the ice cream. Right from the start, the milk that goes into the Howies’ ice cream has been central to its success – as their marketing literature says, they owe it to the cows.

The success of the Parlour has encouraged the Howies to expand their business. They supply ice cream from their own trailer at Alnwick Castle and also supply ice cream to local shops, pubs and restaurants. Their latest investment has been an ice cream pot filling machine. This has allowed them to expand their business to sell 125ml pots to outlets they've not dealt with before.

Indeed, so successful has the enterprise been that just 1% of the milk their dairy herd produces makes more of a margin than the milk they sell to the dairy. What’s more, it contributes one third of their total revenue.