A family owned ice cream producer has announced exceptional growth figures across wider UK operations, defying challenging market and weather conditions.

The fourth-generation business, Mackie’s of Scotland has reported over the previous 52-week period that its market share has increased 22% (Kantar Worldpanel, volume share of market, 52 w/e October 24) after gaining greater distribution in retailers and increasing its marketing.

The increased national distribution seen by the firm in Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Co-op, combined with a robust and targeted marketing drive, has attracted 450,000 new buyers to the brand compared to the previous year.

These figures mean that Mackie’s has been purchased by 7.9% of UK households over the past year, a record high for the business – and the fifth highest of all ice cream companies in the UK.

Will Dixon, Head of Sales at Mackie’s, said: “Our strategic focus on expanding our presence south of the border is yielding impressive results despite a relatively wet and cold summer.

As we look ahead to winter, I’m pleased to report on further new listings. Morrisons have just added two litre Traditional Mackie’s ice-cream and our popular Honeycomb variant to an additional 314 stores across the country, increasing our overall Morrisons distribution by 18%.”

He added: “Similarly, Sainsbury’s have recently rolled out one litre Traditional into many of its smaller Sainsbury’s Local stores, taking us to near 1000 Sainsbury’s stores in the UK; ensuring our ice cream is even more accessible to consumers south of the border.

We are delighted to see the wider range of flavours available across the UK helping to bring new consumers to the brand, while also having a halo-effect and boosting the rate of sale of our best-selling Traditional flavour.”

Mackie’s ‘sky to scoop’ philosophy, which sees all production processes managed on-site at its farm, has been complemented by substantial investments in sustainability, including millions of pounds in renewable energy infrastructure comprising wind turbines, a biomass plant, and a 10-acre solar farm.

Will commented: “While this is very positive news, we do need to remain cognisant as a business of changing market conditions and keep a sharp eye on the continuing rise of raw ingredient costs.

We remain dedicated to being one of the UK’s most competitive premium ice-cream brands, offering our high quality products at an affordable price for our consumers.”