Mackie’s head of operations on growth, sustainability and export opportunities

Mackie’s of Scotland, the UK’s largest independently-owned ice cream manufacturer, has bolstered its sales and operations teams to accommodate growth over the last 18 months.

“Mackie's growth in both volume and value has been primarily driven by its premium bulk ice cream,” said Paul Henshaw, the company’s recently-appointed head of operations. “According to data from Kantar Worldpanel, over the past year [up to August 4, 2024], volume has increased by 24%, following a 15.8% rise during the same period the previous year. In terms of value, sales are up 32% this year, compared to a 19.4% increase at the same point last year.”

Henshaw most recently worked for meat processor ABP UK as project resource manager and prior to that, as head of operations at the Botswana Meat Commission.

But despite Mackie’s growth, the ice cream category in the UK has seen better times.

“This summer posed challenges for both the wider ice cream market and Mackie's as an ice cream brand, particularly due to weather and rising cost of ingredients,” Henshaw said.

“Cooler and wetter conditions led to a decline in seasonal purchases, including ice cream, suncream, and soft drinks. As a result, the ice cream category experienced a 17.6% drop in volume and a 12.5% decrease in value compared to the previous year [up to July 7, 2024, according to Kantar].

“Additionally, wet spring weather, coupled with ongoing geopolitical events continues to drive up ingredient prices.

“Cream, Mackie's main ingredient, has seen an increase of about 70% over the past year, making it a particularly challenging period.”

While England is currently a key focus market for the Scotland-headquartered company, the business is also making efforts to increase sales to export consumers, particularly in Asia.

“We are always on the lookout for new opportunities in export markets. Currently, we are conducting consumer market research to identify where Mackie's can offer products that are noy yet available in the country,” said Henshaw.

Mackie’s exports to 13 countries, including the USA and the Gulf States of Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, Kuwait, Bahrain and Dubai.

But in FY23, the company recorded its best export sales results in East Asia, with Taiwan, South Korea, China, Hong Kong, Singapore and Japan amounting to 95% of its total export sales. In Taiwan alone, the brand sold more than a million Traditional tubs, with MD Stuart Common attributing the growth to the end of the Covid-19 pandemic restrictions and consumers being ‘eager to taste foods they have not necessarily had access to for some time’.

In FY23, the company achieved a 37% increase in export sales, its highest ever on record, with export revenue hitting £2.8m, up from £2.05m in 2021/22.

Sustainability and further growth

The company’s new head of operations told us that Mackie’s has undertaken sustainability initiatives, the largest and most recent being its low-carbon refrigeration system (LCRS), which was part-funded through a Scottish government program.

“Before its installation, Mackie was already producing twice as much energy as it consumed through wind and solar power, and the LCRS further reduces refrigeration-related energy usage, moving the business closer to its goal of achieving complete renewable self-sufficiency,” Henshaw explained. “Currently, when it is not windy or sunny, we rely on buying some energy from the grid.”

Earlier still, the company introduced a new tub design that reduces plastic use by around a quarter. The tub was designed with toolmaker Muller Technology and is manufactured on-site by the ice cream company to save on transport emissions.

The company said it continually assesses its packaging strategy but its research has shown that switching to plastic-wrapped cardboard ‘is not a more sustainable approach’ because the plastic within this makes the entire composite material difficult to recycle. In comparison, the firm’s current plastic tubs are fully recyclable.

Henshaw concluded: “We are continually looking to improve the business, particularly as we’ve experienced significant growth in market share over recent years coupled with our ambitious growth targets for the future. To support this, we are committed to building an experienced and dynamic team across the business to ensure we have the right talent in place to help us achieve these goals.”