The Story Behind Mackie’s Of Scotland

Mackie’s of Scotland is a fourth generation family business who have been farming at Westertown Farm in Aberdeenshire since 1912.

Initially specialising in milk production for the majority of the 20th century; the family business evolved into making ice cream in 1986 and the farm now use the fresh milk from their own dairy herd to make real dairy ice cream.

The company is currently run by three siblings; Managing Director, Mac Mackie with his sisters Marketing Director, Karin Hayhow, and Development Director, Kirstin Mcnutt. Mackie’s employ around 90 members of staff – including many other family groups working together within the business.

Mackie’s of Scotland has become one of Scotland’s most iconic brands – listed in the top 10 Scottish food and drink brands.

Proudly known as Scotland’s number one ice cream, it is also firmly established as one of the top five take-home ice creams in the UK.

With the Traditional and Honeycomb flavours being all-time favourites in every Scottish family, Mackie’s ice cream is now available in all major supermarkets across the UK and is exported worldwide with sales of more than £2m in Asia alone.

In 2009 Mackie’s diversified its business in a joint venture with the Taylor family, renowned potato farmers in Perthshire to make crisps and popcorn which are now available in over 25 countries with more than 20 different flavours.

In 2014 the company expanded once more to create a chocolate factory on the farm – the range of chocolate bars include: Traditional, Honeycomb, Orange, Mint and Dark Chocolate are available in a number of UK supermarkets as well as Mackie’s new online store. The company also makes packaged ice, ingredients like honeycomb and sauces.

Mackie’s also has its own parlour in Aberdeen, named 19.2, where it can offer a huge range of flavours and interact with its clients for immediate feedback on new products. The parlour was opened in 2017 and was named 19.2 to represent the number of miles it is from the family farm in Westertown.

Mackie’s recently revealed its biggest rebrand in 30 years which includes new packaging and a new website, focussing on the company’s family farming heritage and its product’s ‘dairy difference’.

The brand is an innovative thinker when thinking about its carbon footprint and eco-credentials. Its ‘sky to scoop’ ethos sees the brand create everything, from dairy products from its own herd to its packaging, as well as other ingredients on site.

Renewable energy is a cornerstone of Mackie’s environmental policy and the climate positive company aims to become 100% self-sufficient in renewable energy.

This year a £4.5m project is underway to install a low carbon refrigeration unit, adding to the on-site renewable energy production mix that includes four wind turbines, a bio-mass energy plant and 10 acre solar farm.

It was great to be able to visit their Ice Cream Parlour in the centre of Aberdeen as part of the 2021 Scottish Family Business Road Trip and we have to say, the ice cream was unbelievably good!!