Brymor ice cream Managing Director Paul Hodgson has released a second statement after the public reaction in regards to his business moving production of the much loved Cream o’ Galloway from Rainton Farm near Gatehouse of Fleet to Brymor ice cream in Masham Yorkshire.
Mr Hodgeson stated “In recognition that our recent Cream o’ Galloway statement has raised further comment and yesterday commented upon by the First Minister in the Scottish Parliament, it is worth providing some further context in order that this may be viewed through a “glass half full” lense, and not a “glass half empty” lense.
The Sales and Distribution and Storage has been moved to just outside Castle Douglas so we can continue to sell and distribute Cream o’ Galloway Ice Cream, across Dumfries and Galloway and wider within Scotland. We will manufacture the Ice Cream at our farm at Brymor. We will invest in the brand, flavours and range whilst keeping favourite flavours such as Scottish Tablet, Whisky, Honey and Oatmeal, Gooseberry and Elderflower, and Strawberries and Cream. We will also add new flavours to the range.
We took over in January 2024. We saved the Business, Brand and Jobs. The Business and Brand will continue, however the re structure is based on having a sustainable business model. We remain totally committed to the Cream o’ Galloway brand. I appreciate this is sensitive, but we are totally focused on keeping this Brand, working within the local community, within Dumfries and Galloway, within Scotland, and making this a success.
Historical context is important and relevant. The founders / previous owners were closing this business in 2023 and naturally ran the Business down over 2023. They took this decision some time ago, although this was only announced publicly in September 2023. When we came to view the Business, the announcement had already been made, and the Business would have closed, and all the employees at that time made redundant. This did not happen as the Business carried on trading and we took over with all staff in January 2025, with no redundancies.
Also, from wider context the founders decided about 10 years ago to diversify into a cheese making business on the farm and secondly install a new impressive state of the art dairy facility for their dairy herd. This took a considerable investment. The impact of this was that the Ice Cream Business “took a back seat” and these projects took priority. This meant that there has been no investment in this business for over five years. This has also meant that the cheese business has become the priority diversification. This has grown in strength, and employment on the farm has grown.
It was evident from the outset that the manufacturing equipment was tired and worn out. The whole site infrastructure was tired. The outdoor play area was closed / condemned and needed to be removed. So, like anything that is old and worn out, the repairs and maintenance costs rise. This issue became more and more evident as we traded through 2024, and this coupled with other issues meant that we viewed that the site was no longer safe. The site required significant investment which could not be justified, and we must change to have a viable sustainable solution. So hence the reason for this restructure.
There is no change to the Sales and Distribution Team. So, Marjorie from Kirkcudbright, in the Office, will be processing all the orders and providing sales support, Wullie, from Kirkcudbright, will be delivering. And Ann Marie, from Dalry, remains the Sales and General Manager.
The impact in Production is that one team leader has been made redundant. The two young men, who were Production Operatives found new jobs with the Dairy sector locally, within days of notification of ceasing production. So, in effect there has been one redundancy in Production. We made one Cook position redundant in the Ice cream parlour. There have been two overall redundancies.
The Ice Cream parlour has been moved to Cocoabean. This will open in line with their opening hours within their fabulous facility.
We recognise this decision is “unpalatable” to some, but this Business has been neglected now for almost ten years and suffered from no investment or new product development such as the introduction of new flavour or offerings.
Clearly, we turn this into a positive to demonstrate that we are committed to make this brand “fly”. We are updating the packaging to ensure this is up to date and accurate. The brand name and logo will remain, however we are removing “made on the farm” and inserting “by Brymor”. We worked with trading standards to get this right. “Made on the farm“remains key to us overall, and this is our overall unique selling point. We have just booked our stand in the Food Hall and entering the Dairy Ice Cream competition at the Royal Highland Show. [Cream o’ Galloway have not been there for years].
We do not see this as a “Scotland / England” issue although some do, as we are part of Great Britain. We have moved the production, southeast 150 miles because that is where we are, and we have the capacity to make this happen. I should note that this Business was put on the market and anyone in Dumfries and Galloway or Scotland could have bought this business. Others did not pursue this opportunity for the very reason which was the actual state of the business. We saw synergies with our own business. However, I reiterate that the actual situation was worse than we anticipated and hence the need for change.
We have had comments about the two key ingredients to producing Ice Cream which are Milk and Cream. The Cream has historically been bought in from a National Dairy Company so the original source of this could have been Cumbria, Lancashire, Perthshire or indeed anywhere nationally. We will use the same quality of cream here. The milk we are changing, as simply unviable to continue with the current supplier. The milk we will be using here, is a high quality / high butter fat milk.
We are just looking to present a balanced case whilst been open, honest, fair, and transparent to our customers. We are very excited about taking Cream Galloway forward.
On a personal note, I grew up on a farm outside of New Galloway. I went to school in Scotland, went to University in Scotland, served in the 15th[ Battalion The Parachute Regiment, which was the Parachute Regiment Reserve unit in Scotland, and then left as then left to pursue a career. I went on my first holiday to a caravan at Sandgreen! So, I am a Scotsman, running a Dairy and Ice Cream business in North Yorkshire and Galloway now.
I wish to see Cream o’ Galloway flourish.
We recognise that there is deep affection for Cream o’ Galloway Ice Cream and the brand.
Whilst I appreciate the concern about this change, we do need to keep this in context. We need to understand the actual impact and have a “glass half full “approach towards Cream o’ Galloway Ice Cream as it continues as a brand. We need to embrace change as it is a constant feature of business and society today.
We continue to employ our team outside Castle Douglas, and we will invest in this business, with our 2025 Proposition.
“Paul Hodgson , Managing Director , Cream o’ Galloway – Brymor ice cream”
