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Index of Ice Cream Products
Bridge Park
Glacier Foods Ltd
Lyons Maid Logo
Midland Counties
Bertorelli Ice Cream
Baskin - Robbins
Tonibell Manufacturing Co. Ltd
Pendleton Ice Cream Company
Walkers Dairies Office
Zoo Girl Ltd

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Courtesy Mike Hocking

 Courtesy Stingray


Courtesy Terry Chapman

Courtesy Alan Chappel

Courtesy Ian Daniels

Courtesy Peter Bird

.....Ice...Cream.....



Ice-cream, or more precisely a derivative of it, is not a modern food but appears to have been available in Europe since the sixteenth or seventeenth centuries. It first appeared in the United Kingdom in about 1686. What is known is that Lyons started to make ice-cream in 1894 using the turbine bowl method. When refrigeration was further developed after the First World War production increased and automation helped to bring the product to a wider market. Unlike America, ice-cream in Britain was a seasonal phenomena with fluctuating sales depending on the weather pattern. With use of frozen carbon dioxide Lyons were able to ship their ice-cream from the Cadby Hall factory, by train, to most parts of the UK setting up cold stores at several rail-heads. Ice-cream production was banned during the Second World War but when restrictions were lifted new methods of production were introduced. Substitute ingredients were introduced - there was still an acute shortage of many food-stuffs right up until 1954 - which had a detrimental effect on the product, particularly its taste. Nevertheless ice-cream sales continued to grow and new hand-held products were introduced such as the frozen ice-lolly. As with the other parts of the Lyons group expansion of market share was all important and many smaller, regional ice-cream businesses were purchased which included, among others, Eldorado, Neilson's, Midland Counties, Walkers Dairies, Tonnibel and Bertorelli.. This not only increased Lyons' market share of ice-cream, but brought into the group new, local production facilities thus saving expensive refrigerated transport costs. The Baskin-Robbins ice-cream business in the US was bought and remained one of the most profitable parts of Lyons' ice-cream business. A speciality ice-cream business provided unusual portioned ice-cream for the hotel and catering trades;. ice-cream cakes were also made for special events such as Christmas or parties

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© Peter Bird 2002

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