Equi’s Ice Cream is celebrating its centenary by opening a new factory and headquarters in Rutherglen.
Following a £1.7m investment, fourth-generation family business will be able to produce four times the volume.
Four generations of the Equi family has been producing ice cream since 1922, with flavours like Scottish tablet, Isle of Skye sea salt and caramel and Alphonso mango sorbet sold across the country.
Moving from an original site in Hamilton, set up in 1922, the new 10,000 sq ft factory has been designed to maximise sustainable efforts, with a bespoke water recycling system that saves upwards of 16 million litres of water per year.
The new factory is 45 times bigger than the original production facility.
Managing director David Equi said: “When my grandfather Pietro immigrated to Scotland from Tuscany, he started the small independent café that we know today as Equi’s Hamilton.
“Now into its fourth generation in the ice cream business, my family has continued this principle of using the best quality, locally sourced ingredients and to this day we only use fresh local Scottish milk and double cream for all our ice cream, which we get from a farm just along the road.
“Our new factory allows us to take our ambitious plans for production and growth to the next level.”
Gary Munro, production manager of Equi’s, added: “This is a real game changer for the ice cream industry in Scotland - our purpose built unit has been designed to be as efficient and environmentally sustainable as possible with major upgrades in machinery.
“It’s unlike anything else in Scotland today, in addition to a 90% drop in water usage, our steam boiler uses 66% less gas and we continue to work with suppliers who allow us to support local businesses and further reduce our food miles, including Park Farm, which supplies our milk from 10 miles away.”
Equi’s Ice Cream started in 1914 with great grandfather Pietro Equi. Aged just 15, he came to Scotland to seek his fortune and found his calling selling the gelato he missed from back home.
Today, Equi’s is sold via more than 300 independent customers across Scotland, major multiples including Asda, the Co-Op and Morrisons, and wholesalers.
Turnover is £3.5m and grew by a third last year.
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