Dairy giant Dale Farm has reported a record sales increase compared to the same time last year for its ice cream range in the summer.
This sales boost has been attributed to the scorching temperatures recorded across the British Isles over the months of June and July.
Nigel Cairns, commercial director for Dale Farm Ice Cream recently commented on the record figures.
He said: “Dale Farm’s Ice Cream sales have rocketed thanks to June’s summer heatwave as people seek to keep cool.
We are delighted to report that ice cream sales figures for last month were up 61% on last year.
“The hot weather and record temperatures have been fantastic news for our business,” he said.
“The huge increase has meant our team has had to work incredibly hard to meet this increased demand and we are taking extra steps to ensure that freezers across the country are stocked-up with ice cream as the good weather looks set to continue.”
Meanwhile, Dale Farm also recently launched the largest ‘self-consumption’ solar farm in Ireland at its cheese processing facility in Co. Tyrone.
The 37ac solar farm, connected directly to the company’s network, is now powering Dale Farm’s cheddar cheese plant at Dunmanbridge, Cookstown, Co. Tyrone.
This development has been described as a “major milestone in sustainability within the global dairy sector”.
The Northern Ireland-based dairy co-operative’s project – which guarantees 20 years of green energy for the company – is one of the largest of its kind in dairy worldwide, according to Dale Farm.
The project has been designed and delivered in partnership with Dublin company CES Energy. The solar farm is expected to reduce Dale Farm’s carbon footprint by 20% and deliver multimillion-pound savings in energy costs.
