Making the most of every opportunity brings success

When you are serving ice-cream that’s fit for the Queen, you know you must be doing something right.

After winning a contract to present their ice-cream at Royal Ascot at York Racecourse, Lesley and Ian Buxton created two bespoke flavours - lemon curd and lemon and mascarpone - to serve to the Royal party along with their mandarin and orange yoghurt.

“I was invited to a meeting because we regularly take our mobile ice-cream to the racecourse,” says Lesley, who looks after the sales and development of the business.

“It became clear they didn’t want our mobile at the races because of various contracts the organisers already had, and then I discovered the ice-cream would be coming from London.

“So I spoke to the executive chef in the meeting, and asked him to come back to the farm - which was two miles away - to taste our product. He agreed and we won the contract.”

Such directness is indicative of the Buxtons’ journey, which has seen the couple reduce their dairy herd, invest in new buildings and more than quadruple turnover since they launched their Yorvale ice-cream brand in 1989.

We set out to tell a story with our product and that hasn’t changed
Ian Buxton

Although Ian was not born into a farming family, he graduated from Askham Bryan College with a Diploma in Agriculture and was managing a herd of 120 dairy cattle at Leeds University by the age of 22. At the time, Lesley was working at Mothercare and the couple were living on the university farm, enabling them to save Ian’s wage to fund their future ambition of buying their own farm.

Two years later in 1994, they successfully tendered Fossfield Farm, in Acaster Malbis - a 23-hectare (58-acre) county council tenancy - and bought machinery and a 40-head British Fresian herd.

Originally, milk was sold to the liquid market and only a small amount was held back for ice-cream, but because there was no suitable land to rent and the milk quotas had rendered investment almost unviable, the couple diversified full-time into ice-cream.

“We realised the tenant before us had been running a flying herd and milking 286,000 litres per quarter,” says Ian. “Because the tenant had moved on, the landlord owned the entire quota.

“We knew if we moved we would have to buy the quota from the new farm, which could have cost us anything up to £100,000-plus so added value to our product instead.”

Mobile branding

Unable to gain planning permission to build a farm shop - as the area is in a green belt area - Ian and Lesley bought mobile units to promote their brand and increase business.

Initially using a basic ice-cream recipe from a book, the couple began experimenting and took eight flavours to the Homes and Garden Show. The move was a resounding success.

When North Yorkshire council announced York would become a unitary authority, the York City council gained an influx of farm tenancies. Within two years, the farms were up for sale and in February 1998, the couple bought their first farm.

Having gained planning permission a year later, production moved from a tiny, breeze-block building to a purpose-built office and dairy.

In February this year, using a partial grant from Yorkshire Forward, work began on a new 75ft by 60ft warehouse for additional storage and packaging.

Frustratingly, the building could have been up and running 11 months ago, but was halted when their planning application was refused once again on the grounds of the City of York’s green belt policy. However, they successfully appealed and the warehouse will open for business this November.

Tweaking the recipe along their way, the 25-flavoured ice-creams have attracted new relationships with local suppliers, including a local dairy farmer for cream.

Unusually, some of the flavours are more savoury than sweet, and the couple admit some of their ‘made to order’ requests have been way beyond the norm.

“Some of our weirder ones have been mistakes, says Ian. “The horseradish flavour we did for a farm shop was horrendous, but the caramelised onion, which we thought would be revolting, was subtle and actually worked.

“Sometimes the bigger companies don’t have the time or patience to try out new flavours, but if we think the taste can be powerful enough, we find the time.”

Four years ago to ease pressures, milk production was balanced with the demands of the ice-cream business, and cow numbers were cut to 12 and went to once-a-day milking. But it wasn’t long before increased demand for the ice-cream meant cow numbers rose again and the Buxtons reverted back to twice-a-day milking.

Average yield stands at around 3,200 litres per week, with butterfat at 4 per cent and protein at 3.8. This in turn produces 10,000 litres of ice-cream, which is put into five mixes each day, six days a week.

The low-input, block calving system means most milk is achieved from grass, although some concentrates are used mainly on fresh calvers to boost energy.

Future viability

Determined to extend their product further afield, the couple became BRC (British Retail Consortium) accredited to help bridge the gap with larger retailers.

“It was driven purely by the need to grow with bigger companies and in order for us to do that, we had to become accredited for retailers to look at us seriously,” says Lesley.

After attending the International Food and Drink Event (IFE) four years ago and showcasing their produce as members of DeliciouslyYorkshire, Lesley spotted the potential for future business.

The couple spent £8,000 on re-branding their product and went from a basic 500ml pot to a tamper-evident 500ml colourful tub.

“The old pot didn’t sell the provenance and quality,” she explains. “We knew what we had was good but how could we convey that to the customer?

“We initially used pictures of children eating the product from cones, but after holding public focus groups, realised it didn’t convey the message it was a premium product also aimed at adults.”

The couple returned to IFE two years later and exhibited newly packaged products in a glass-fronted cabinet. The move secured new contracts with local Sainsbury’s, Tesco and Booths stores.

“In the early days we wanted to supply small outlets and never thought about big retailers, but because we limited ourselves we found we were struggling to move.”

“We used the exhibition as a vehicle to generate interest from retailers, and it worked,” says Lesley.

Subsequent business has moved beyond York to now include farm shops, independent retailers, and hotel and catering customers through a network of food service distributors.

“Food service companies are a big deal to us as they are continual users of ice-cream. “It also means we produce ice-cream in five-litre tubs, packed in boxes of six and palletised for dispatch.

“It takes us one hour 25 minutes to produce 36 cases, whereas when we make half-litre tubs it is much more long winded. It has helped us reach a more even level and not just a summer business ticking over in winter.”

Birthday business

This February, their attention turned to investing into new marketing tools to support their customer base.

To mark their 20th anniversary, the couple have launched branded scooping, counter top and upright freezer and point of sale deals to further promote the brand. In addition, a new freezer deal has been introduced which offers a scooping freezer, swing board, flag and a chalk board. The retailer is also offered free stock to cover the purchase cost.

Looking to the future, their business goals are two-fold. Firstly, to generate sales to justify the new warehouse, and secondly, is to expand production.

“Numbers could reach 60 again with the aim of producing 500,000 litres,” says Ian. “What we don’t want to do is remove ourselves from the equation completely. We set out to tell a story with our product and that hasn’t changed.”

Although their move to Fossfield was originally a stepping stone, an increase in production has dictated their move is permanent - at least for the time being.

“We always thought this farm would be a stepping stone and what has happened since has been a big sea change. At some point we would need off-site storage if we wanted to expand, as we have exhausted our planning permission here,” says Ian.

Echoing his thoughts, Lesley remains determined for the next stage to happen.

“We are not just in it for today and tomorrow. We are here for the long-term and we are only letting ourselves down if we don’t keep looking to the future.”

Have your say

Please do not complete the following form field for security reasons.

Name

E-mail

Comment

Post as

Anonymously

Display name