📝 Hello from Kristy Dorsey, here with Wednesday's edition, amid positive news from a Scottish ice-cream maker.

Summer 2024 in the UK was the coolest on record since 2015, according to the Met Office, but that failed to chill the glow of growing sales at Mackie's of Scotland.

Will Dixon, head of sales at the family-owned firm, said the company's strategic focus on expanding its presence south of the border is yielding "impressive results" despite a relatively wet and cold summer. His comments came as Aberdeenshire-based Mackie's revealed that latest data from Kantar Worldpanel shows Mackie's enjoyed a 22% increase in its share of the UK ice cream market during the year to the end of October.

Mackie’s was purchased by 7.9% of households during the period, a record high for the business and the fifth-highest of all ice cream companies in the UK. Increased national distribution by supermarket chains Morrisons, Tesco, Sainsbury’s and Co-op and a "robust" marketing drive attracted 450,000 new buyers to the brand compared to the previous year.

“As we look ahead to winter, I’m pleased to report on further new listings," Mr Dixon said. "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%.

“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.”

The question now is whether this will translate into increased profitability. Most recent accounts covering the year to May 2023 show a decline in profits to £1.34 million despite a 15% increase in turnover as the cost of ingredients soared.

"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," Mr Dixon added.

“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.”

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