Mackie’s ice cream site set to star on Inside The Factory
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ICE cream fans can enjoy a full access tour of Mackie’s of Scotland’s family farm and ice cream dairy from their sofas – as it takes centre stage on BBC2's Inside the Factory.
Airing on Wednesday, February 9 at 7.30pm, viewers will be given the inside scoop as TV presenter Gregg Wallace visits the farm business based near Rothienorman.
Hosted by Kirstin Mackie, he meets several of the team, including Dave Smurthwaite (head cattleman), Morag Haggerty (production manager), Louise Hunter and Dierdre Henderson (from the Sweetie Kitchen).
He also discovers how the family business, which makes more than 12 million litres of ice cream each year, uses fresh milk from its herd as well renewable energy from wind turbines to power the dairy.
One of three sibling owners, Kirstin Mackie said: "We are busy making ice cream here on a working farm – it’s not a visitor centre and it can be difficult to show people around the business.
"We loved the experience of working through this and having Gregg and the filming crew up to see us and we hope that viewers will enjoy learning more about Mackie’s.
"While I and some of our team were initially quite nervous – it was made fun by Gregg’s chat and the friendly film and sound crew.
"It was very interesting to see how much work goes into making the programme as well – it was a full and busy three days filming."
A key part of the visit was the exclusive glimpse inside Mackie’s new twin drum spiral freezer, where a togged-up Gregg and the crew braved minus 35C temperatures in order to watch the tubs of ice cream being frozen.
The spiral freezer is part of Mackie’s newly installed low carbon refrigeration system, which runs on ammonia and biomass heat – and is expected to reduce the firm’s energy use and carbon emissions by up to 80 per cent.
Mackie's was also an early adopter of wind energy, with its first turbine installed over 40 years ago.
Inside the Factory has been running on TV since 2015, showcasing all things manufacturing.
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