Ice Cream

Ice cream is a favourite food the world over. I'm visiting farms on the south coast of England that specialise in making this ice-cold treat. We're going to follow the process of how it's made right the way from the cow to the ice cream cone.

Hello. Do you want some?

Welcome to Kent, a county known as the Garden of England because of all its farm produce.

And this is Solley's Farm, where milk is transformed into ice cream. The flavours made here are sold all over Britain. Stephen Solley is the owner.

Joe: So, Stephen, what goes into making ice cream?

Stephen: Milk and cream. Well, our milk we have a Guernsey milk which is a lovely rich creamy milk and we add cream to that and quite a lot of sugar so it gives us a nice body for a nice rich ice cream.

Joe: Why do you think everyone loves ice cream so much?

Stephen: I think it reminds them of the lovely summer days in midsummer, and seeing the children eating their ice creams and putting it all over their faces and everybody's happy so it gives you a happy moment in time. 

The journey begins on a neighbouring dairy farm where the milk is produced.

It then comes here to be made into ice cream.

First, it is heated to kill off any bacteria.

Oh – it smells great!

It's then cooled and stirred to create very smooth ice cream.

It's mixed with the flavours and then poured into the cartons.

And they fill up about 1800 tubs of ice cream every day.

And inside this giant freezer is where all the ice cream is stored, and I can tell you it's pretty cold.

From here the ice cream is sent out all over the country.

But what flavours are there? Well, Stephen has some for me to try.

Joe: So Stephen, I'm going to guess which flavours you've got here.

Stephen: Right, so if we start on this one and see how you find that...

Joe: OK. Definitely vanilla.

Stephen: Yes, well done. You got that right.

Joe: Nutty. No... cinnamon.

Stephen: Cinnamon, well done, yes, that's right.

Joe: OK, it looks pretty. It's not strawberry. Cherry.

Stephen: That's right. Well done.

There are thousands of different flavours. But what do people like about ice cream?

Interviewee 1: I love ice cream. My favourite flavour would be caramel.

Interviewee 2: It's nice on a hot day...

Interviewee 3: Good variety of flavours. It looks pretty cool.

Interviewee 4: It's fresh and it's sweet, so I like it.

Interviewee 5: Kids love it. Grandparents love it. Parents love it. Everybody loves it.

Interviewee 6: I don't really like ice cream.

Joe: You don't like ice cream?

Interviewee 6: I eat it, but I don't really like it. I wouldn't choose it.

Joe: OK. So not everyone likes it.

A lot of ice cream ends up in vans like this one.

Ice cream vans are a common sight around Britain in summer, and how do you get people to come and buy your ice cream?

Well, like this!

I've always wanted to do that... And while I'm here waiting, I might as well help myself to another ice cream. 

Very nice!