Mackie’s reports growth in turnover as profits drop to £1.1m

Mackie’s reports growth in turnover as profits drop to £1.1m

Stuart Common

Ice-cream brand Mackie’s of Scotland has recorded an impressive 15% increase in turnover in the 2021 financial year from £17.7 million to £20.8m, but this was not translated into increased profits, which stayed static at £1.1m as the family-owned business absorbed escalating costs. 

The company saw its overall costs increase by 23% over the financial year. Rather than passing on this cost to consumers, Mackie’s absorbed as much of these rising costs as possible. This move was rewarded by consumers, resulting in an 11% increase in Mackie’s penetration, a measure of how many households in the UK buy a product.

Mackie’s saw its UK market share in ice cream rise by 13%, while its export sales grew by 27%. This has enabled Mackie’s to expand its workforce to more than 100 employees for the first time in its history, which included the appointment of it is first People and Development Manager as well as a new Managing Director taking the helm within the last year.



Ice cream sales were the backbone of the strong revenues, Mackie’s sold more than 13.3 million litres of ice cream. It is the equivalent of filling 166,250 standard sized bathtubs, to visualise, if the bathtubs were placed end to end in a line, they would span a distance more than 300 miles long. Mackie’s also saw a 33% rise in the sales of its chocolate.

This growth has been supported by years of heavy reinvestment into the business’ sustainability, machinery and people, improving its efficiency and capacity and laying the foundations for further growth.

Backing up its ice cream sales, the company saw a 30% increase in its renewable savings and revenue; with 70% of the business’ power being renewably generated on site with solar panels, wind turbines, and biomass boilers.

Managing director of Mackie’s, Stuart Common, said: “We are thrilled to announce that thanks to the hard work and dedication of our incredible team making our delicious products, Mackie’s has reached this turnover milestone. Despite the challenges of rising costs and supply chain issues, our staff have gone above and beyond to continue producing Scotland’s favourite premium ice cream to the highest standards.

“This landmark achievement reflects the progress Mackie’s has made over the years and shows the strength of our brand and products. We’re extremely proud of what we have accomplished together and look forward to achieving even greater success in the years to come.”

Looking ahead, Mr Common added: “We are looking to invest to further increase our production capacity in order to widen the availability of our products across the UK. We plan to install new equipment and production lines enabling us to scale up manufacturing while maintaining our commitment to sustainability and quality.

Mac Mackie, chairman, commented: “As a proudly Scottish family business, we remain dedicated to our Aberdeenshire home here on the family farm, while also being determined to continue to provide moments of joy to our customers across the world through our ice cream and chocolate.”

Mackie’s produces all its ice cream using fresh milk and cream on its fifth-generation family dairy farm, Westertown, near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire.

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