It's easy to
see why Cornish Mutual Member, Otter Valley Dairy, has become so
successful since it started producing homemade ice cream, sorbet
and frozen yoghurt last May. With a wide range of interesting and
new flavours, as well as a traditional, family orientated approach
to work, the business has won several awards already, including
Gold and Silver at the Taste of the West Awards 2010.
Run by the Bond family, the dairy uses only milk and cream from
its own herd of pedigree cows. The idea to start making ice cream
and frozen yoghurt was borne out of a need to stabilise the dairy's
milk rate.
Rebecca Bond - Marketing and PR Manager at the dairy and
daughter of its owners, Anthony and Gill Bond - says, "As a family
we had always made farmhouse ice cream, but not in great amounts -
we carried out some research into what machinery we would need to
produce larger amounts of ice cream, and attended the Italian World
Ice Cream Show to watch how the world's best do it. We then
converted one of our barns into a small production area and started
producing trial runs until we were all happy with the final
product. We started selling to the public in May last year, when we
took our products to various agricultural shows and festivals in
the region, as well as selling scoops of ice cream from our
summerhouse.
Now we work closely with an Italian Chef who helps us to create
flavours, and we have fun trying them out and deciding which ones
to carry forward. We supply several local restaurants, cater for
special occasions such as weddings and fairs, and during the summer
months (April-October) Visitors can come and enjoy an ice cream
whilst admiring the views of the beautiful Otter Valley.
Today the dairy sells over 30 different flavours of ice cream
and frozen yoghurt - including Seabuckthorn, a wild berry which
tastes a little like mango - but the Bond family are always open to
new ideas. Rebecca adds, "We're really proud of what we have
achieved in our first nine months. I don't think any of us expected
it to take off so quickly - it's been fantastic, but we still
always welcome ideas and new flavours from our visitors."
The Bonds have insured their home and farm with Cornish Mutual
for some time. Diversification of the dairy created a change to
their insurance needs including new requirements for product
liability insurance for the ice cream, business insurance (including
employers' liability) and farm insurance to cover their stock and
machinery. Cornish Mutual were happy to arrange all these
covers.
"We've been Cornish Mutual Members for generations" says Gill,
"So there was no doubt who we would insure the new business with.
Gary [Burgess - Insurance Inspector for Honiton, Axminster and
Exmouth, pictured with Gill and Rebecca] sorted everything out for
us. Having someone to come round and discuss your needs with you is
so much easier than trying to explain your situation over the
'phone. We can rest assured now, knowing that we have exactly the
right cover for our business."
More information about Otter Valley Dairy and its ice cream,
sorbet and frozen yoghurt, can be found at www.ottervalleydairy.co.uk or by calling them
on 01404 861518.
