A new bara brith ice cream has been launched with a tasty twist on Wales\u2019s much-loved traditional tea time favourite.<\/p>\n
It\u2019s been created through a collaboration between three well-known Welsh brands, historic ice cream maker Sidoli\u2019s from Ebbw Vale, Denbigh-based Henllan Bread and food distribution firm Harlech Foodservice which has its headquarters near Cricieth.<\/p>\n
Made using Henllan\u2019s famous bara brith, the ice cream is part of Sidoli\u2019s new Proudly Welsh range and aims to tap into growing demand for locally-produced food with a strong Welsh identity<\/p>\n
The range also includes a coffee ice cream made with ingredients from Bridgend-based Ferrari\u2019s Coffee and a salted caramel flavour using Halen M\u00f4n sea salt from Anglesey.<\/p>\n
Dan Williams, ice cream sales and commercial controller for Harlech Foodservice, Stefano Sidoli, managing director at\u00a0Sidoli\u2019s, and Ruari Wood, business development manager at\u00a0Henllan\u00a0Bread, gave the new products a taste test at the Castle Gallery & Tearooms in Conwy.<\/p>\n
Giving the new flavours a\u00a0big thumbs-up, Dan said: \u201cCollaboration between companies is so important to highlight and promote Welsh\u00a0produce as a whole.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt is amazing to work with\u00a0 such wonderful leading Welsh brands and the product is stunning.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlech Foodservice started working with Sidoli\u2019s\u00a0recently\u00a0and we have been working with\u00a0Henllan\u00a0for many years.<\/p>\n
\u201cIt has allowed us to have a Welsh brand of ice cream on our\u00a0books,\u00a0it is\u00a0really special.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are\u00a0a very proud\u00a0Welsh company, as are all the companies.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlech Foodservice has been supporting Welsh brands and promoting Welsh produce from the day we started, and that has helped local producers and the local economy.\u201d<\/p>\n
Stefano Sidoli, great grandson of\u00a0company founder Benedetto Sidoli, said\u00a0linking up with other famous Welsh food producers was the next chapter in the story of the Ebbw Vale-based\u00a0company, which was founded\u00a0in\u00a01922.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cIt felt like a natural thing to do, especially after we started working with Harlech.<\/p>\n
\u201cBara\u00a0brith\u00a0is obviously an iconic cake within Wales and\u00a0Henllan\u00a0are an iconic bakery in Wales and\u00a0Harlech started in North Wales, so it just seemed such\u00a0a\u00a0natural thing for us to explore.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe launched the Proudly Welsh this year and it is something we want to expand over time and work with Welsh businesses.<\/p>\n
\u201cOver the past three to five years, provenance is really gaining traction.<\/p>\n
\u201cPeople want to know where their food is coming from, so to partner with Welsh brands just seems like\u00a0a\u00a0great\u00a0thing\u00a0to do.<\/p>\n
\u201cThe Proudly Welsh range is listed with Harlech so any customer that uses Harlech\u00a0has the opportunity to\u00a0take these products on.<\/p>\n
\u201cHarlech provide great support to us, they have given us a route to market in North Wales.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey have the same values as we have, they are a proper family-run business and have\u00a0a great team\u00a0of people there who are dedicated to their work. You can tell they really care about what they do and the products they sell.\u201d<\/p>\n
Ruari Wood said Henllan Bread, a\u00a0fifth generation\u00a0family business which was founded in 1908, was delighted to provide the vital ingredient to the new bara\u00a0brith\u00a0flavour.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cThe new flavour uses our bara\u00a0brith\u00a0cake\u00a0and we are so pleased to be involved in the creation of a new Welsh product.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe were delighted to have been\u00a0approached\u00a0and we said yes straight away.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we are really pleased to be working with Harlech Foodservice, we started with them in about 2018, and they are a\u00a0really good\u00a0wholesaler for us.Harlech\u2019s service is\u00a0very good.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey are\u00a0a very proud\u00a0Welsh\u00a0business\u00a0and they stock loads of Welsh suppliers, they really focus on it, which is great.<\/p>\n
\u201cWe are doing more and more with them all the time, so it was natural to do something like this new ice cream with their support.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ice creams were dished up by Karen Thomas, a director at Castle Gallery & Tearooms, which sits close to Conwy Castle.<\/p>\n
Fellow director Andrew Barton predicted the new flavours would be a huge hit, especially the bara\u00a0brith\u00a0option\u00a0which would attract interest from tourists\u00a0in particular who are keen to hunt out genuine Welsh treats.<\/p>\n
He said: \u201cI would say 90 per cent of our customers are foreign tourists and a lot of them are off cruises and they all want to come into Conwy to see the castle.<\/p>\n
\u201cThey\u00a0also\u00a0all want to sample something\u00a0Welsh\u00a0and they all want to sample the ice cream, so I think\u00a0the new flavours will go down very well.<\/p>\n
\u201cAll the\u00a0Sidoli\u2019s\u00a0ice creams go very well\u00a0to be fair, and the new flavours will be\u00a0a great addition\u00a0for us.<\/p>\n
“Sidoli\u2019s is\u00a0a very good\u00a0product\u00a0and we\u00a0actually get\u00a0a lot of people coming in asking specifically for Sidoli\u2019s rather than other brands.<\/p>\n
\u201cAnd we are delighted to be a Harlech Foodservice customer, we have been with them for just over two\u00a0years\u00a0and they\u00a0give us a good service.\u201d<\/p>\n
The ice cream range is another new product listed by family-run Harlech Foodservice, which was started in 1972 by Gill and Colin Foskett.<\/p>\n
It\u00a0has enjoyed rapid expansion in recent years and has added new hubs in Carmarthen,\u00a0Caerphilly\u00a0and Telford to its long-established centres in\u00a0Cricieth\u00a0and Chester.<\/p>\n
The business\u00a0now employs 300 staff and supplies pubs, restaurants,\u00a0schools\u00a0and hospitals across Wales, the\u00a0North West, Shropshire and the Midlands.<\/p>\n