In 1986, in the kitchen of Sheshire, a Phil family farm in Cheshire, England, eight different styles of vanilla ice cream were put on the table at midnight, and the recipes that were determined that year have become their signature products.
After the milk quota was introduced, the farm was desperate to find a way to add value to their surplus milk production, so they decided to give it a bold try and introduce ice cream products, initially testing the water with vanilla flavors. This is the origin of "Cheshire Farm Ice Cream".
More than 30 years later, the farm's kitchen has been carpeted with office-style gray carpets and becomes the "Ice Cream Central Command." The hallway where more than 300 cows used to be milked is now a family ice cream theme park (though the Phil family doesn't like the term) and has the world's largest dedicated ice cream hall (recorded in the Guinness Book of World Records). During the high season, more than 8,000 tourists come here every day. A total of 821,000 people poured into the family farm's gates last year, making it the first of its kind on the UK's list of the 20 most popular free destinations.
The Phil family farm's in-house factory consumes 200,000 litres of milk a year and is used to produce more than 50 flavors of ice cream. Although many dairy farmers were overwhelmed by harsh natural conditions and low milk prices, the Phil family's business was revived by the early reforms. "In the beginning it was only a secondary product!" Margaret, 73, still seems incredulous about what's going on today.
Today, Margaret and her husband, Tom, are busy despite retirement. In the past, Tom always worked in the milk shed early in the morning, but now his fixed habits have been changed to more casual activities: mowing the lawn and playing golf. The family business is run by their sons, Jonathan, 45, and Glam, 46, neither of whom had any plans to take over the family's dairy farm in the past.
In 1986, Phil's dairy farm was not facing an unsustainable situation, but rather a surprisingly high milk production. "It was one of the top dairy farms in the country at the time, and many of the houses we didn't use later," Jonathan said.
In the early 1980s, when the European Commission began to limit milk quotas, Tom was a tenant on the farm, and he raised 300 cows with only a quota of 200 heads, so he had to explore other ways to increase the excess production.
The Phil family initially supplied milk to local cafes, restaurants and hotels. They also own a coffee shop on the farm. In order to allow customers to see the milking process of the cows, they have built a special observation deck. Margaret, who only stopped working at an ice cream restaurant 10 years ago, recalls: "I always made some scones at home to take with me, and if we could make ten a day, even if the business was busy. ”
Slowly, the business grew larger, and Tom's role changed from a dairy farmer to an ice cream producer. Finally, 15 years ago, Phil's family stopped doing the ranch work themselves and entrusted another farmer to run the ranch. In 2014, all the cows were moved to the pasture next door. The Phil family's lease of the Bowsworth Farm was also revised.
"Producing food on a working farm has never been a good idea." Phil said. "Environmental health management regulations are getting stricter and stricter every year."
Jonathan, who began managing the family business as soon as he left school, was the main mastermind of the idea of creating a family adventure park.
"Many of my friends have fathers who are also farmers and are reluctant to give up their business." Jonathan said. His first bold attempt was to open mini golf and coin-operated quad bikes. Guests charge GBP 1 per quad bike rental and pay for itself after three months of trial operation.
More interesting projects were added to the farm, and by 2012, when the existing premises were saturated with operational capacity, Jonathan gritted his teeth and negotiated with the National Westminster Bank for what was said to be the bank's largest unsecured loan in the north-west of England.
In 2015, an upgraded ice cream farm opened. Not only does it have the world's largest ice cream parlor, but it also has the largest indoor beach bath in All of Europe called Hive Canyon, a real JCB excavator for visitors to shovel ice cream, and a magic ice cream tree that sings every 15 minutes and releases a cold mist.
"It's a magical thing that allows us to see what an ice cream ranch can become." Jonathan unleashed his uninhibited imagination in playground design.
The farm amusement park now employs more than 275 people. Although tickets are free, the cost of individual entertainment programs ranges from £1 to £3.75.
"People like to come here and choose how much they want to spend," said Jonathan, who has no ambitions to build the farm into a big theme park.
Although his father, Tom, had left the business entirely in the hands of him and his brother Gram, who was in charge of ice cream production, it was not common in the farming and ranching industry, Jonathan said.
"I have many friends whose fathers are reluctant to let go of the business and who are still running the traditional way they used to. I was very fortunate that my father had a forward-looking vision and improved his ideas, so I had the opportunity to participate. ”
Jonathan acknowledges that the recent European milk crisis, which has forced many dairy farms to close, has benefited the Phil family business.
"It was fantastic for us because we paid the current price of milk, which is our main raw material. So our profit margins are very good. But there is also a contradiction because milk prices should not be so low," he said.
Tom admits that his friends who run dairy farms are less pleasant. "Every time I greeted them and greeted each other, they would reply, 'It's okay, it's not enough to make ice cream,'" he laughs.
But the Phil family had no remorse. "It's been an incredible journey," Margaret said. "Ice cream is a product that brings people happiness."
Image source: telegraph.co.uk
Translator: Yu Fuli