The Ice Cream and Artisan Food Show was opened this morning, running from 7 to 9 February 2023.
It is a business to business event, and was opened Katy Alston, National President of the ICA, the organisers of the Show, and Harrogate Borough Mayor Councillor Victoria Oldham.
David Otterburn represents Yorkshire on the board of the Ice Cream Alliance (ICA) and is the Vice President-Elect:
The show is for ice cream producers throughout the country.We all get together and look at what’s new and relevant to the ice cream business.
It’s trade only, so anything to do with retail, production and wholesale.
I am from Helmsley, and was previously a dairy farmer. Back in the days of milk quotas, you could use any excess milk to make ice cream, as it wasn’t counted as part of the quota.
The government changed that system so you couldn’t use excess milk in that way. We moved away from dairy farming, and then just concentrated on the ice cream.
The sector does have trends, and that can be due to the cookery programs. We look at what’s relevant, things like salted caramel have gone through a big recently.
In a way, we are between two markets in the UK. In Italy they are more purist, but the American influence is more about all the inclusions in the ice cream.
In Italy, they don’t tend to do many fruit ice creams, as it is a warmer climate – it’s more of a sorbet. Or a cleaner, more refreshing taste with things like nut products that last.
There are some amazing ice cream producers in this country, but we just make what we think tastes right.
