Mauds Ice Creams facts for kids
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| Industry | Ice cream |
|---|---|
| Founder | Roberta Wilson John Wilson |
| Headquarters |
Carnmoney
,
Northern Ireland
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| Products | Ice Cream |
Mauds Ice Creams is a popular ice cream company from Northern Ireland. They make tasty ice cream that is sold across the island of Ireland. You can even find their ice cream in one store in England. Mauds has created over 350 different flavors since they started. Their most famous flavor is Poor Bear, which is a mix of vanilla ice cream and honeycomb. Mauds is the biggest producer of dairy ice cream in Northern Ireland.
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How Mauds Ice Creams Started
Mauds Ice Creams was started by Roberta and John Wilson. It began as a small part of their grocery shop in Carnmoney, County Antrim, Northern Ireland. They made the ice cream right there in their store. People loved it so much that ice cream sales quickly became the most important part of their business.
On Mothers' Day in 1982, they changed the name of their shop to Mauds Ice Creams. This was a special Mother's Day gift for John's mother, whose name was Maud.
Growing the Business
For many years, Mauds used milk from a local dairy called Deerpark. When that dairy closed, they started getting their milk from Ballyrashane Creameries in Coleraine. By 1998, the company had 15 employees. They had a main factory in Glenoe, near Larne, and a place to store and send out products in Antrim.
By 2002, Mauds Ice Creams had 18 employees. They were selling their ice cream to more than 50 customers in the Republic of Ireland. That year, the company planned to hire 20 more people. They also planned to invest about one million pounds to help their business grow even more. This was supported by Invest Northern Ireland.
In March 2002, all their ice cream making moved to a new, modern factory in Carrickfergus. By 2003, they were making 40,000 liters of ice cream every week. During the hottest summer months, this went up to 60,000 liters! As of 2018, Mauds was the largest ice cream maker in Northern Ireland.
Where You Can Buy Mauds Ice Cream
You can find Mauds ice cream in over 300 places across the whole island of Ireland. These places include special ice cream parlours, cafes, restaurants, and hotels. The company first started by selling and retailing their own ice cream. Later, they focused mainly on making the ice cream.
At one time, Mauds had at least 7 of their own shops. However, they decided to focus more on just making the ice cream. In 2003, they sold 120,000 ice cream cones each week during the summer. By 2018, this number grew to 200,000 cones per week!
Special Mauds Locations
There are special shops called Café Mauds. One opened in 1992 in Newcastle, County Down. Another is on Lisburn Road in Belfast. Both of these were started by John and Patricia Pell.
The first Mauds shop outside of Ireland opened in Windsor, England. It is right across from the famous castle. In more recent years, the company also started sending their ice cream to the Málaga area in Spain.
Popular Flavors
Mauds has created over 350 different ice cream flavors. Two of their most popular flavors are Poor Bear and Belgian Chocolate.
- Poor Bear is often called Pooh Bear by local people. It is a mix of honeycomb and vanilla. At one point, this flavor made up 60% of all their sales! It was originally called Pooh Bear's Delight. However, when Disney opened a store in Belfast, the company's boss, John Wilson, decided to change the name to avoid any problems with copyright.
- Belgian Chocolate is another favorite. It has fine pieces of milk chocolate mixed into vanilla ice cream.
Awards and Recognition
Mauds Ice Creams has won many awards for their delicious products.
In 2004, Mauds was the first ice cream maker in all of Ireland to be named Champion of Champions by the Ice Cream Alliance. Before this, they had already won over 50 medals and awards from the Alliance. From 2013 to 2021, Mauds won five awards at the yearly Blas na hEireann National Irish Food Awards.
