5 minute read
Meet the Producers at Lacock Dairy
MEET THE PRODUCERS
In the first of a new feature, we speak to some of the local makers behind some of the region's finest produce. First up is JANE LEAR from Lacock Dairy.
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Lacock Dairy create luxury gelato ice cream, handmade in Wiltshire using milk from the Selves' Farm dairy herd.
Lovejoys Wholesale is their only wholesale distributors with lots of the pubs, restaurants and hotels they supply using it on their menus and shops stocking it for resale.
Why is Lacock Dairy called gelato and not ice cream and what is the difference between the two? Gelato is the Italian word for ice cream, but there’s a big difference between the soft, smooth texture and clean taste of gelato compared to traditional ice cream. It comes down to these factors: fat, sugar, air and serving temperature.
Gelato has less fat: it uses more milk than cream – ice cream uses more cream than milk. That also means that you get more flavour and a cleaner mouthfeel with gelato.
Gelato has less air: it is churned more slowly in small batches in our Italian Carpigiani machines. Some traditional ice creams made in a factory can have very high levels of air incorporated - it makes it easier to scoop, but it melts quickly -and air is pure profit!
Gelato is usually served at a higher temperature than ice cream (it is best served at -13°C) and it has a super smooth texture. What's more, our gelato has less added sugar: the milk that the Lacock herd produces is very sweet and so we have reduced the amount of added sugar
Gelato has a dense, milky texture which is much lighter than the fat-heavy traditional ice cream. It also has a more intense flavour as there is less cold fat to coat the tongue, so flavours come through quickly and then melt away leaving a clean mouth. So, you get more pleasure per mouthful with gelato
Have you always been interested in gelato? In eating it, yes! I am a scientist by background though and do not have any
food-related industrial experience. I thought it would be quite simple in comparison to malaria vaccines and genetics - the reality is rather different, as getting a great taste and a great texture at the same time is pretty tricky!
What are your childhood memories of ice cream? I grew up on a farm in The Weald in Kent where my father grew hops. We were so excited when the ice cream van managed to find its way down the narrow lanes to us!
When was Lacock Dairy started and what was the idea behind it?
Lacock Dairy was started in 2016.
We are a group of three friends who all love gelato - and one has a dairy herd! Primary producers were seeing big fluctuations in milk prices, so we thought we would have a go at adding value to the milk and selling it locally. We also wanted to make something authentic using great ingredients and with some criteria that we considered important: no palm oil, no gluten (Christmas Pudding is an exception), no egg (an allergen), tubs widely recycled and wooden spoons. We offer 4 sizes depending on whether they are for sale in retail or commercial settings - 2 & 4 Litre catering sizes and a 120ml (with spoon) and 500ml tub.
The small but dedicated team behind Lacock Dairy
What is your favourite flavour in the Lacock Dairy range?
My favourite is Peanut Butter - it crosses over the sweet/ savoury divide.
What is the most popular flavour in the Lacock Dairy range? Honeycomb Crunch is the most popular flavour overall, with Madagascan Vanilla and Cherry Ripple close seconds. Oh and Salted Caramel is not far behind. We now have 17 flavours which include 4 sorbets: Lemon, Peach & Raspberry, Strawberry & Mint and Chocolate.
How do you decide on a new flavour? That is always a bit random, but as small producers we can offer limited editions to test the market - for example for the festive season we have a
Christmas Pudding flavour which is very popular. We also introduced a Sweet Cinnamon recently which is amazing with anything apple - it's my husband’s new favourite. Our new Chocolate Sorbet is pretty delicious too and perfect for anyone who is lactose-intolerant or vegan. We introduced the Strawberry & Mint sorbet to coincide with Wimbledon about 4 years ago and it was such a hit that we added it to the full range.
The Selves' farm dairy herd
Flavours are interesting as there are the ‘Classics’ like our Madagascan Vanilla and Rich Chocolate, and then we have our ‘Marmite’ flavours like Stem Ginger, Peanut Butter and Coffee & Cardamom - some customers are addicted to these!
Do you have any new flavours coming soon? We have some new flavours on the way - one is a surprise for the Jubilee - so look our for it!
What's the secret to your success do you think? As in any small team, everyone has a vital role to play, from the production in our kitchen on the farm to the packing and delivering - we all care passionately about producing great gelato! Lovejoys are our specialist wholesalers! We also have two pop-up shops that came into being during the pandemic: one at Reybridge in Lacock (SN15 2PF) and the other is at Milk at Mile Elm (SN11 0NE) where we have a vending machine open from 6am to 10pm and you can buy more than our gelato: fresh milk, milk shakes, eggs, butter, cheese, sausages, bacon, potatoes, rape seed oil, cakes and enjoy a coffee at the same time!
Other outlets include Whitehall Garden Centre, Lacock Bakery, The Rudloe Arms Box, Allington Farm Shop, Thorntons Toy Stores, Cobbs Farm Shops, Walter Rose & Son Devizes, Ma Cuisine Larkhall, The Arc Climbing Centre, Pound Arts Cafe, Seven Stars Inn Bottlesford, The Rising Sun Lacock, The Bell Lacock, The Who’d a Thought it Lockeridge, The Food Gallery Marlborough, Cafe 25 Bathampton, The Black Horse Cherhill, Ramsbury Brewery, Malmesbury Abbey Cafe, The Salutation Inn Castle Combe, Brydges Place London, Derry Hill Store.
We are always interested in adding to the list, so please get in touch with us or Lovejoys Wholesale if you would like to become a stockist.
• lacockdairy.co.uk
