Lisburn 'field to fridge' company goes from strength to strength as their award-winning ice cream sells in the Republic of Ireland

This month sees Draynes Farm frozen products go on sale in the Republic of Ireland for the first time, after the local company was awarded an InterTradeIreland grant to support cross-border trade of their award-winning ice cream.

Things have changed a lot in the lifetime of Draynes Farm, a ‘field to fridge’ company based in Lisburn, County Antrim, who originally began delivering milk by horse and cart in 1932.

Ninety years on and the horse and cart had gone, but the company were still facing challenges when it came to the transportation of their goods, following the expansion of their dairy range to include ice cream.

With the complications of both Brexit legislation and transporting frozen goods over longer distances, the company were nervous about expanding, and looked for help through IntertradeIreland.

Funded by the Department of Enterprise, Trade and Employment and the Department for the Economy in Northern Ireland, InterTradeIreland, amongst other things, helps small businesses in Northern Ireland and the Republic of Ireland explore new cross-border markets, and have a Brexit advisory service.

Following a qualifying process InterTradeIreland awarded Draynes Farm a grant to fund 50 per cent of the services of a Republic of Ireland sales company, which led to Draynes Farm teaming up with Salesplus.

A number of distributors, with expertise in frozen goods, have now taken on the Draynes Farm ice cream range, which includes innovative flavours such as Biscoff, Honeycomb and Chocolate, and Milk (‘a traditional old school ice cream, with nothing added and nothing taken away’) made on the farm from their own fresh milk and cream.

Amongst the new distributors are Gortrush Food services, who specialise in selling ice cream in the UK and Ireland, and Tempka Foods, who have begun selling throughout Leinster and parts of Ulster this month.

“We’re really excited to have partnered with these two distributors and to finally have our ice creams on sale in the Republic of Ireland,'' Owen Drayne, of Draynes Farm explained.

''We’re looking forward to seeing how they’re received and hope off the back of this we can expand our distribution to other provinces with future partners.

''We’re extremely grateful to InterTradeIreland and the opportunity they have provided us.”

Visit www.draynesfarmicecream.co.uk for more details.