A Scottish Ice Cream producer has taken the top prize at the at the National Ice Cream Championships 2021.

Mancini’s of Ayr has been voted the best ice cream manufacturer in the UK by the Ice Cream Alliance, the sector’s UK trade association. Mancini’s vanilla ice cream was voted Best of the Best in this, the country’s most prestigious ice cream competition.

“It’s a wonderful thing to win this championship,’ said managing director Filippo Mancini. ‘We are always trying to improve our products and keep our standards as high as we can. The competition is judged by a panel of experts drawn from the industry who taste product from the best ice cream makers in the business. That makes winning even more special. Winning the lottery can’t feel better than this! ‘

Four generations of the Mancini family have been making and selling award-winning ice cream from the Royal Cafe in Ayr for over 100 years. The company also supplies events – including their famous ice cream weddings – and has just opened a new parlour on Prestwick seafront.

The national championships are normally held at the Ice Cream and Artisan Food Show in Harrogate, where hundreds of products are submitted across thirteen categories but this year’s show was cancelled due to the pandemic.

“The ICA decided that we needed to show our sector’s resilience by continuing with these annual awards in spite of the lockdowns and severe restrictions on trading,’ commented Zelica Carr, ICA CEO. ‘I want to thank all those who entered and our dedicated panel of judges who tasted the entries and selected winners in a socially distanced and Covid-secure procedure at our head office.’

‘There was very stiff competition but Mancini’s manages to combine the very best of ingredients with tried and tested recipes, and the results speak for themselves.’

Ice cream parlours and ice cream vans have been hard hit in this pandemic, losing a total of £289m in income in 2020* alone. However, according to Ms Carr, this is just the tip of the iceberg when you add lost sales in cafes, restaurants and hotels, and the economic impact to businesses along the supply chain: ‘Manufacturers, flavour houses, wholesalers and others have all been affected and that’s why the ICA has launched the Great British Ice Cream Staycation campaign, in which Mancini’s of Ayr is participating, to support ice cream sales in the hospitality sector.

www.ice-cream.org

www.mancinisicecream.co.uk