The ultimate food product - a healthy ice-cream

The worthy winner of the Business Gateway International Award for exporting innovating food products to new markets is ice-cream producer Mackie's of Scotland Ltd for its new green tea flavoured ice-cream.

A healthy ice-cream sounds like the holy grail for all true foodies, but the farm-based Aberdeenshire company might just have pulled off this remarkable feat if this distinctive new ice-cream, developed specifically for the Korean market, goes on to win wider international acceptance.

Mac Mackie lifts BGI export award "Our market research told us that the Koreans have a taste for green tea flavoured ice-cream, and it's already one of our top five sellers over there," commented Mac Mackie, managing director of the family-owned business.

"But the UK judges at the Grampian Food Forum Innovation Awards were also so enthusiastic about the product, despite its distinctive, almost bitter taste, that we are now thinking of trailing it in the UK as well."

Mackie's already has a remarkable export story to tell (click here for details), and this latest award, says Mac Mackie, will help open even more doors as the company pushes ahead into tough new retail markets.

"Food awards have a really practical purpose - it's not just a bit of back-slapping," he explains. "When a food buyer hears a new product has already won a prestigious award like this, it just makes it so much easier to get a supermarket listing," he says.

The BGI-sponsored award was one of fourteen made at the annual Grampian Food Forum Award dinner, now in its fifteenth year. Widely regarded as the best regional food awards in the UK , the awards were launched to foster the north-east's proud tradition of innovative food production.

The judging panel for the 2005 awards were chaired by Steve Back, chief executive of Somerfield, and comprised Susan Elston, regional director of Aramark, food journalist Wendy Barrie and Cery Ritchie of the Scottish Agricultural College .

The awards are organised by the Grampian Food Forum, and co-sponsored by Aberdeenshire, Aberdeen City and Moray Councils; Sea Fish Industry Authority, Anderson's Packaging (Aberdeen) Ltd, The Press and Journal, The Marcliffe at Pitfodels, Business Gateway International, Johnston Carmichael, Leap (Scotland) Ltd, Rowett Research Institute, The Robert Gordon University, Moray, Badenoch and Strathspey Enterprise, Scottish Food and Drink and Scottish Enterprise Grampian.