“there is ice cream in the freezer; you can eat as much as you like!”
Our Ice Cream Story
Our Founder’s love for ice cream started at a very young age. Richard was a non-milk drinker as a child, and his mum encouraged his calcium intake by offering him ice cream instead. Imagine his joy when his mum said one day, “there is ice cream in the freezer; you can eat as much as you like!”
Thankfully his appreciation of the delicious frozen treat continued and in 2017 The Willen Ice Cream Company was created!
Our mission is simple: We hand-craft premium artisan ice creams using the finest and, where possible, locally sourced natural ingredients.
We manufacture dairy ice cream from locally sourced farm fresh milk, as well as cashew and fruit base ice creams for food lovers on a lactose free or vegan diet.
Our first day of trading was at Woburn Market, March 2019. Luke, our then young son, was excited to join the adventure. The day was a dry cold spring day. Early morning shoppers shopped for essentials. By 10.30am the sun was out, Luke asked ‘Dad, when are we going to sell out first ice cream?’ Almost immediately a gentleman, who had been admiring the concrete cow image on our trailer, stepped in front of the kiosk window and said, smiling, ‘I’ll buy your first ice cream!’
Since the Company’s inception, Richard has been working with local producers to create the highest quality and the top tasting ice cream around. It is important to us to bring simple yet delicious flavours together and keep them new and interesting.
As expert ice cream eaters we have a good idea of which flavour combinations work. To us the base is a blank canvas, and it allows us to get creative with the blends we and our customers love - whether its traditional, sweet or boozy flavours!
We aim to work with the fresh ingredients available to us from our local suppliers, who include:
- Fresh raw milk - Udderly Fresh, udderlyfreshrawmilk North Hill Farm Dairy, Winslow, MK18 3LF
- Gin flavours - Foxdenton Estate Company, foxdentonestate.co.uk Buckingham, MK18 1RQ
- Brandy flavours - Wharf Distillery, wharfdistillery.co.uk Towcester, NN12 6DB
- Fresh fruit and vegetables, from farmers market growers
We are a small batch ice cream manufacturer, which means we only make a limited number of flavours on each run. This is to ensure we are using the freshest ingredients and our ice cream remains at its usual high standard.
From cow to cone our process is second to none. It really is a flavour of love!
Producing delicious ice cream for everyone with local producers is at the heart of what we do, but there is more…
We keep our focus on family - that’s both The Willen Ice Cream Company family and all the families that we serve - in all its wonderful shapes and forms. We like to think that our tubs and cones are enjoyed by families spending time together, savoring the moment in more ways than one! But remember, our ice cream tastes just as good when you’re on your own or with friends.
We aim to create employment opportunities - we are working towards creating employment opportunities, work experience and apprenticeships for young people with educational challenges, and sales opportunities to local entrepreneurs.
We strive to contribute to the local economy - by growing the Company, developing our work with local producers and stockists, and creating employment opportunities, we can continue to contribute to the local economy.
We are environmentally friendly - our dairy ice cream is made with farm fresh milk locally sourced from grass fed Holstein- Friesian cows raised in the Buckinghamshire countryside. Our nut butters are Vegetarian Society™ approved, vegan friendly, gluten free and a natural source of protein.
there is ice cream in the freezer; you can eat as much as you like!
So that is our Ice Cream Story.
Our premium ice cream comes in sustainably sourced 450ml compostable tubs, plus our 170ml tubs come with a traditional environmentally friendly wooden ice cream spoon. So, you can eat our ice cream with the peace of mind you are helping to save our planet through plastic-free shopping!
We will continue to create and develop our premium range of artisan ice cream, and we hope you will love eating them as much as we do!
Richard and the team at The Willen Ice Cream Company
Is there an outlet near you that you would like to see our ice cream stocked in? Let us know and we’ll see what we can do!
Where to find us
MK7 Community Market, 1st Saturday of the month Hindhead Knoll, Walnut Tree, Milton Keynes, MK7 7PB
A seasonal market which runs from April to October, with a Christmas market in December
Woburn Sands Community Market, 2nd Saturday of the monthWoburn Sands Market MK17 8SD
Bedford Flea, Art and Local Produce Market, 2nd Sunday of the month.A seasonal market which runs from April to November.
Woburn Market, 3rd Sunday of the monthThe Pitchings, Woburn, MK17 9PG