Business Gateway proves profitable for ice cream maker

Soave’s Ice Cream, which has been helped by Business Gateway Lanarkshire, ploughed the money into new machinery increasing production to 3,500 litres per day and doubling the size of the freezer storage room within its dairy.

Further investment in branding, packaging, marketing, and a re-design of its website was also undertaken and the company exhibited at key trade shows for the first time this year, including at The Royal Highland Show.

Now Soave’s of Muirhead,, which employs 14 people, has secured contracts to supply its ice cream filled sponges and snowballs to a select number of Scotmid and Morrison’s stores in Scotland.

General manager Valerie Adam said: “A lot of hard work and a significant amount of investment has gone into changing the way we work, helping us transform the business so that it can meet the demands of our rapidly growing order book.

“Our Business Gateway adviser Paul McIlvenny’s knowledge and connections have helped us throughout the whole process, linking us with experts and helping us secure funding.

“In particular, his help with our successful By Design Grant application allowed us to create a new website, re-brand, take product photography, set up Facebook, brand our vehicles, and produce a brochure that has helped us secure asignificant amount of business.”