Simply Ice Cream won in the Micro Business of the Year category, demonstrating their resilience as a small brand in the wake of Covid-19. The awards celebrate the achievements and contributions of small businesses across the UK, and are judged by a panel of leading business experts. Simply Ice Cream were up against 5 other small businesses in the South East, and the awards ceremony took place on 25th March at Hickstead International Showground. The FSB is a non-profit organisation and the UK’s leading business campaigner.
Sales Director, Robin Newall, attended the ceremony and collected the award. He says “We are over the moon to have been recognised at the FSB awards. The last two years have been atypical for us as a business, since the pandemic hit and many of our retail partners closed intermittently. Having said that, the lockdowns gave us the time and opportunity to drive the brand forward in other ways.”
The small Kent business has been producing luxury artisan ice cream since 2008, and can now be found in over 450 outlets across Kent & The South East. Their ethos has always been about creating handmade, great quality ice cream using only natural & local ingredients where they can.
Alongside the FSB win, the brands founder Sally Newall, is a Confectionery Entrepreneur of the Year Finalist in the Food & Drink Heroes awards. The programme recognises and celebrates the UKs challenger food & drink brands. Simply Ice Cream were selected from over 700 entries to demonstrate their entrepreneurial spirit and business achievements in the face of many challenges over the last year. Sally is up against 7 other finalists, including the founders of LoveRaw vegan chocolate, Popcorn Kitchen and The Copper Pan Fudge Company.
Simply Ice Cream have kicked off 2022 with some fantastic nominations, and only a few weeks ago featured on ITV’s Love Your Weekend with Alan Titchmarsh. They appeared in a cocktail making segment with award winning wine expert Olly Smith. Guests of the show Amanda Redman & Amanda Abbington were smitten with the Mudslide cocktail made using Simply Ice Cream’s Dreamy Vanilla ice cream.
The brands founder, Sally Newall, says “We’re thrilled to have been recognised in these awards, and selected from a vast array of other fantastic businesses and products who entered. The last two years have challenged us as a business, but we’re confident that 2022 will be a year of growth and expansion”.
The brand are set to move to a much larger production site in May, enabling their ice cream production to grow in line with new retail partners coming on board and a newly launched website. The 5,300 sq ft site will house all production, storage & packing facilities, as well as an office space.
Simply Ice Cream were hit hard by the pandemic, with 70% of their wholesale partners closing during lockdowns. The brand used the quieter moments to overhaul their website, launch a franchise partnership scheme, locate a new production site and develop a vegan range of ice creams. Sally Newall says “We’re a small and nimble brand, which enabled us to ride the wave of Covid-19 and come out the other side. It will take some time to build our sales back up to where they were pre-pandemic, but with hospitality and retail back up and running properly we’re confident we can get revenues back up to where they were”.
Read more of the latest industry news and developments here: March 2022 Single Issue form – International Confectionery Magazine (in-confectionery.com)
Media contact
Roshini Bains,
Editor, International Confectionery
Tel: +44 (0) 1622 823 922
Email: editor@in-confectionery.com
