Mackie’s of Scotland's fastest-growing ice cream flavour to hit Waitrose shelves in days

Ice cream maker Mackie’s of Scotland has agreed a deal that will see its fastest growing product stocked in more than 200 Waitrose stores across the UK.

The Aberdeenshire firm’s honeycomb flavour will be available in up to 245 Waitrose outlets from June, joining Mackie’s traditional real dairy ice cream in the John Lewis-owned supermarket chain’s freezers. The deal, worth an anticipated £500,000 in retail sales, follows last year’s milestone UK-wide listing with Sainsbury’s which saw the flavour, already readily available in Scotland, extend its reach significantly throughout England and Wales.

The latest listing comes as Mackie’s achieved its highest ever market share in the premium ice cream sector in England and Wales. Last year, to achieve this, the brand saw an increase of half a million customers across England, Wales and Northern Ireland, adding to its significant existing share in Scotland. A major contributing factor to this increase was the farm’s appearance on BBC’s Inside the Factory programme, presented by Greg Wallace, where the brand’s process of making honeycomb ice cream was viewed by millions of people.

Lyndsay Mackay, senior national account manager at Mackie’s of Scotland, said: “The success of our traditional real dairy ice cream over the past three decades has been brilliant. Our Scottish consumers have long been able to enjoy our wide range of fantastic flavours, and we’re so excited about this new listing giving consumers in England and Wales an opportunity to discover more of Mackie’s. That change is now well underway. This Waitrose listing for honeycomb comes after last year’s similar listing with Sainsbury’s, making our honeycomb easier than ever for consumers to get their hands on it across Great Britain.”

Mackie’s is one of the UK’s top ice cream brands, with its one-litre traditional tub being the fourth best-selling premium ice cream product in the UK. As the business grows, it has gained a cache of awards in the process, and still produces all its ice cream using fresh milk and cream from the dairy herd on the family farm in Aberdeenshire. This summer, Mackie’s is launching its biggest ever marketing campaign to further raise awareness.

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