Frederick’s Ice Cream of Chorley, Lancashire has been making delicious ice cream to a traditional Italian family recipe for over 100 years – but the company has recently added a new ingredient or two to their mix.

The Federici family, now in their fourth generation of ice cream expertise, have invested in their brand new Cattabriga Multifreeze 18 Pro Batch Freezer and ROKK RIF1500 ingredients feeder, and are already noticing the difference.

“We chose these two machines from Machinery World’s wide range because they are not only reliable but also extremely energy efficient, which is very important to us,” explains Donna Townson, a third generation Federici who runs the business with her parents Tony and Liz, brother Louis and sister Roseanne, “but they are also so versatile and easy to use, enabling us to add ingredients in a whole range of different ways”. 

Another unexpected benefit was the texture of the ice cream, as Louis, who runs the production side of the business, explains:

“Cattabriga are the Ferrari of batch freezers, so we knew the technology would be top of the range and give us so much production flexibility and thus efficiency,” he says, “but we were surprised – and delighted – with how much smoother the ice cream is – it’s the perfect texture for our range of luxury ice creams”.

There certainly is a range to be proud of: Frederick’s have over 100 delicious handmade flavours in stock at any time, and more than 200 recipes to choose from, each made using a blend of the highest quality natural ingredients combined with Italian passion and expertise.

The ROKK ingredients feeder enables the family to add inclusions such as honeycomb, Oreo cookie pieces, chocolate chips and fruit preparations to the ice cream as it comes out of the continuous freezer, which is invaluable for their wholesale customers as Donna explains:

“Many of our hotel, garden centre, restaurant, dessert bar and even wedding customers like to offer bespoke flavours, designed perhaps to complement a specific menu, season or celebration.  Our new equipment – and on-site labelling facilities – mean we can produce small, high quality batches quickly and efficiently.”

So is the relationship with Machinery World another new recipe for Frederick’s? 

“Not at all,” laughs Donna: “Machinery World are a tried and tested part of our history, just like our ingredients”

The relationship began about six years ago, when they traded in two small machines for a second-hand continuous freezer which had been refurbished to the highest standard by Machinery World’s in-house expert engineers.  The team continue to service the machine, ensuring it never misses a beat. 

“We love working with Machinery World,” says Donna.  “They really understand our business and are extremely knowledgeable, with superb after sales service.  They are also hugely versatile: we were able to trade-in one of our older machines, which made it possible for us to afford the new, top of the class machinery we really wanted”.

Whilst the two latest additions to the Frederick’s mix feature the latest technology, it is the way in which the family combine traditional recipes, luxury ingredients and age old ice cream expertise with the use of modern machinery that the fourth Federici generation, Emma and Amy are learning, ensuring every lick will continue to taste unbelievably delicious for years to come.