A premium locally made ice cream BY RENEE LANG
PHOTOGRAPHY DOMINIQUE WHITE
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here’s a new ice cream in town that’s promising a lot more than a delicious taste treat … A new Nelson start-up company, Appleby Farms, is about to hit the country by storm. This is a story about a group of four entrepreneurial Nelson families who want to create yet another iconic Nelson food brand. It all started around 2013 when Julian Raine and Murray King began brainstorming ideas for utilising their own A2 protein milk which, simply put, is essentially milk that lacks a particular protein component that can cause a negative reaction in some individuals. Naturally there’s much more to it, but in a nutshell a number of people who have previously been identified as lactose
“...ice cream with integrity...” R EW G R AY
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intolerant seem to enjoy A2 protein milk and milk products without unpleasant side effects. The farmers looked at all sorts of options. Around this time Kristy Giles, a food technologist who both farms worked with on a regular basis, suggested that Julian and Murray investigate the possibility of using their milk to produce ice cream. Her suggestion held some appeal to them and over the next couple of years the small team undertook some initial market research. This soon led to the engagement of local management consultant Rew Gray to support a more robust analysis of the ice cream market in late 2016. What followed soon after was a detailed planning phase and a significant commitment from four Nelson-based families to each other, to make the best premium ice cream they could using the milk from their own cows. Not only does the Appleby Farms’ product hold the distinction of being made with A2 protein milk, but that very same milk comes from the cows in their very own herds on their very own farms. What’s more, they have built a state-of-
the-art manufacturing plant in Stoke where their ice cream is made, making the whole process – in the context of ice cream production – unique. Rew Gray calls this ‘ice cream with integrity’ and he, and the others, take great pride in the company motto ‘Cow to Cone’ that features on every tub of Appleby Farms ice cream. As for feedback from locals, anyone who’s spent time at Tahunanui Beach over recent months will have almost certainly noticed the company’s fabulous retro silver Airstream caravan that’s been serving up Appleby Farms ice cream to a host of beach goers. It’s gone down really well with local consumers (and of course out-of-town visitors), given so many people’s growing awareness of wanting to know what’s in their food, not to mention an increasing interest in sustainable farming and demand for regional produce. So, after not much more than a year in the planning the big national reveal is scheduled to take place around the middle of March when Nelsonians – and the rest of New Zealand – will be able to purchase Appleby Farms ice cream from their local