Western Morning News (Saturday)
This isn’t just an ice-cream maker... this is Callestick
A CORNISH ice cream maker has scooped a major contract with Marks & Spencer.
Callestick Farm Ice Cream kept news of the deal – struck last Autumn – on ice until this week but has now revealed it will be supplying the luxury food giant from this spring, starting with apple crumble and rhubarb flavours.
Sebastian Parker, managing director and owner of the company, said: “In all my years of Callestick Farm Ice Cream, this is by far the most challenging but also the most exciting leap the business has taken!”
The Parker family have been making ice cream at Callestick, near
Truro, since 1989 when the introduction of milk quotas meant an alternative source of income was needed to keep the farm going. Since then, they have gone from strength to strength with the business and team growing over the past 33 years.
Ben Parker, the operations director who has overseen the development, said: “We couldn’t believe it when the contract was confirmed, we knew this was going to change the business overnight and drive us forward.
I am looking forward to what the future holds.”
The M&S contract has created lots of work to be done on the farm, with production and freezer space being the main concern. After months of hard work through a cold and wet winter, the factory size has now increased by 60%. Additional local staff have been taken on to keep up with the demand. Callestick Farm now has a newly installed spiral freezer, which has taken the lengthy overnight freezing process in the blast freezer to a speedy 60-minute journey on a freezer come helterskelter. This new method of freezing now means a greater volume of product can be produced and is of even smoother consistency than before.
“We couldn’t have got where we are today without our longstanding and loyal customer support which is much appreciated,” said David Jeffs, sales director. “It’s a win-win going forward with the new development to the factory and production line, we will now be able to offer an even better product with a more extensive range of flavours!”