SCOTLAND’S favourite ice cream brand has had its brightest idea yet by creating the country’s first ever glow in the dark ice cream.
Mackie’s of Scotland will showcase the first-of-its-kind creation at the 10thanniversary of the Spectra Light Festival in Aberdeen.
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The Aberdeenshire-based family firm developed the “Light Up” Lemon Sherbet flavoured ice cream using natural ingredients which cause it to glow under UV light.
The idea, inspired by the Aberdeen’s Spectra Light Festival, was brought to life by Pauline MacLeod – NPD Technologist at Mackie’s – who found that adding riboflavin, also known as vitamin B2, made the ice cream glow.
The limited-edition flavour will be available in Mackie’s 19.2 ice cream parlour, situated right next to the Light Festival, as a one-off special for the festival weekend only, with limited stock available.
Commenting on the creation, Pauline said: “We wanted to do something memorable to celebrate the festival, and what better way than a glowing ice cream?
“Despite it looking unusual, it’s totally safe to eat, and made using natural ingredients. We also felt a flavour like lemon sherbet perfectly summed up this treat, which has had glowing reviews from the staff who have tried it!”
It’s not the first time Mackie’s of Scotland has got creative. It’s 19.2 parlour has created weird and wonderful flavours from Haggis & Marmalade for Burns night to Jaffa Cake, Christmas Trifle and Pigs in Blankets over the festive season.
Parlour Manager, Yvette Harrison who had the initial idea for the UV ice cream said: “To have such a unique ice cream available for ice cream lovers over the weekend is really exciting.
“On top of the delicious taste, it brings a real wow factor, which fits in wonderfully with the Light Festival next door, with customers taking part by placing their ice creams under the light to see it glow.
“I was inspired by a friend who is featuring in the festival this weekend, and was really impressed that Pauline was able to start experimenting and manage to bring it to life in time for the festival. We’re confident it will be a big hit across the weekend.”
As well as being the largest independently owned ice cream manufacturer in the UK, Mackie’s is one of the UK’s top ice cream brands, with its one litre Traditional tub among the best-selling premium ice cream products in the UK.
Stuart Common, Managing Director at Mackie’s of Scotland said: “We take our job of creating tasty, premium sweet treats very seriously at Mackie’s, but the beauty of the ice cream industry is that there is always scope to have a little bit of fun.
“Not only are we really excited to be launching a new limited-edition product at such a well-attended event, we’re overall just very proud of the team for executing and delivering a technically challenging idea, which has resulted in a brilliant end result. We’re sure festival-goers will agree!”
Mackie’s produces all its ice cream using fresh milk and cream on its fifth-generation family dairy farm, Westertown, near Inverurie in Aberdeenshire.
To find out more about Mackie’s, please visit: www.mackies.co.uk
