The largest ice cream parlour on the planet produces on average 6,000 litres of dozens of flavours every day.
Its location? Cheshire Farm Ice Cream, based at the Ice Cream Farm in Tattenhall, on the Bolesworth Estate.
The business proudly received the Guinness World Record in 2015 for its 851 square m² of floor space at the leading Cheshire tourist attraction – an ice cream theme park experience with an ice cream tree, waterfalls and an ice cream drive-through.
Tom and Margaret Fell founded the business in 1986 after seeing a gap in the market for luxury dairy ice cream made from Cheshire cows' milk. Nearly 40 years on the second generation of the family – Graeme and Jonathan Fell – is steering the enterprise forward with sustainable packaging, energy-saving innovations and an endlessly inventive menu of products.
Graeme, is responsible for wholesale production while Jonathan looks after the show side and the public, with Tom still contributing to the business. The sales manager is Stephen Young whose father Howard regularly helped at events, while his mother Caroline ran the original café, named Caroline‘s Pantry.
Flavours and lines are always changing and include apple and sour cherry, the banoffee, raspberry ripple, rhubarb and custard, rocky road, strawberries and cream, toffee fudge, chocolate ripple, cookie dough, Cointreau and orange, honeycomb, and marshmallow. My favourites were Mrs Darlington's lemon curd ice cream with a lemon curd ripple partnered with a raspberry ripple and served in a double cone. Milk comes from Robin Langford’s Friesian herd milked just a few fields away at Owler Hall Farm.
The business makes themed ice creams for nearby Chester Zoo including the tiger brand of orange flavour with chocolate stripes, a macaw parrot style in yellow and blue and a snow leopard featuring mint ice cream with chocolate chips. There are sorbets and vegan ice cream and a new range of ice cream sandwich desserts the family is keen to promote to pub chains and restaurants in Cheshire.
Cheshire Farm Ice Cream, Drumlan Hall, Newton Lane, Tattenhall, Chester CH3 9NE
01829 770995 theicecreamfarm.co.uk
Kurt Thomas is the head chef and owner at Cheshire-based Cooking for Events
