A FAMILY-owned brand renowned for its dairy ice cream is embarking on a £100,000 growth drive to build awareness with new audiences.
Mackie’s of Scotland, which is the biggest selling ice cream producer north of the Border, is championing its approach to simplicity and the use of natural ingredients in the hope it can “cut through” to new customers in England and Wales.
It follows a record year for the firm, based on a fourth-generation family farm in Aberdeenshire, which was able to grow turnover by 20% to £16.7 million in the year to May 2019. The growth has been attributed to increased exports and its range of chocolate bars.
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The summer campaign will also see the launch of its new “Making Simple Delicious” strapline, which will feature throughout marketing materials and branding from July onwards.
The company’s “sky to scoop” ethos sees it create everything from milk to its packaging on site, powered predominantly by renewable energy
Karin Mackie, marketing director and one of Mackie’s three sibling owners (left), said: “It has always been a big challenge for us to grow our ranges in England and Wales.
“We’re routinely contacted on social media by customers asking why they aren’t able to try the wider range of flavours available in Scotland.
“We hope that by celebrating the fundamentals of our business – that we’re based on the family farm and use fresh real dairy ingredients from it to make our ice cream – that we can differentiate ourselves in the eye of the discerning consumer.”
With its distinctive blue and cream tubs, Mackie’s original “Traditional” flavour of real dairy ice cream is the fourth best selling premium ice cream product throughout the entire UK.
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The campaign will also see the launch of the firm’s largest ever on-pack and on-line competition “A Summer of Simple Pleasures”.
The contest will see the Aberdeenshire firm give away prizes for 10 consecutive weeks, all carefully chosen to celebrate the simple things in life.
The competition will feature on a special run of 400,000 “Traditional” real dairy ice cream tubs.
The company’s “sky to scoop” ethos sees it create everything from milk to its packaging on site, powered predominantly by renewable energy – via four wind turbines, a 10-acre solar farm and a biomass energy plant.
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