Stewart Tower Dairy, Perthshire

Neil and Linsey Butler run a 420 acre mixed dairy and arable farm in Perthshire, where the majority of the milk from their herd of 80 Holstein cows is sold to a commercial dairy.

But Neil and Linsey wanted to carry their business forward. Their options were to increase their herd further, plough money into upgrading the buildings or to try something completely different. They went for the last option and began to consider luxury ice cream making. They first came across RSS Hereford when they were doing some research at an Oxfordshire farm that had diversified into ice cream. The farm’s owners, the Godwins, recommended RSS and said they’d be at the Royal Show that year.

So Neil and Linsey started talking to RSS Hereford at the Royal Show in 2004. Neil says, “RSS Hereford were tremendously helpful. John and Neil James’ expertise is second to none – they know everything there is to know. They gave us all the advice we needed when we first started – and they’re still on hand to give us advice when we need it now!”

Stewart Tower Dairy Ice Cream Parlour opened on 8 April 2006 and it’s in a former horse mill roundhouse on the farm. It incorporates a 40-seat coffee shop and a farm shop. There’s a viewing window into the ice cream parlour so visitors can watch the ice cream being made and spectacular views across the farm. RSS Hereford supplied all the ice cream making and refrigeration equipment for the enterprise. They also designed and fitted the coffee shop.

The couple make over 60 different flavours of ice cream. The flavours range from the unusual – like Turkish Delight and Orange Marmalade Cheesecake – to the traditional chocolate, vanilla and strawberry. Where possible, the added ingredients have been grown or made locally.
Neil is clear on two factors that have made the difference to them – apart from the ice cream, of course! The first is the busy road which runs past the farm. “We used to curse it”, he says, “but it’s just a matter of looking at it from a different perspective. It means that access is easy and it brings us lots of passing trade.”

And the other thing? It’s the increasing interest in local food and local producers and in reducing food miles. Visitors to Stewart Tower Dairy really appreciate the fact that they’re eating a truly local product. They can eat ice cream knowing that it’s been made on the premises using milk from the cows they can see grazing on the fields.

All this means the couple’s first season in business has been a roaring success. Neil explains: “The shop has been completely mobbed at the weekends and we get a lot of visitors in the week too.”

But perhaps the season’s crowning glory? Three of their flavours – cherished chocolate, vibrant vanilla and succulent strawberry – won all three classes and the championship award at the 2006 Royal Highland Show. A fantastic achievement for a company’s whose shop only opened two months before. And it can only be a good sign for the future of Stewart Tower Dairy!