New Forest Ice Cream factory to create 30 new jobs

The family-owned firm, which operates a factory in Bridge Road Lymington and a sales and distribution centre in Hounsdown, is hoping the new site at the Ampress business Park in Southampton Road will be up and running by mid to late 2011.

Md Lawrie Jenman told FoodManufacture.co.uk that the firm had been looking for new facilities for some time in order to meet growing demand for its ice creams, desserts and lollies.

Its first choice was a site on the Gordleton Industrial Park in Pennington, said Jenman, but its application to move there was rejected by New Forest Council.

Significant capacity increase​

The new site at the Ampress business Park would enable New Forest, which turns over about £4.5m a year, to increase capacity significantly, said Jenman. “The lease on our current site runs out in two-and-a-half-years years, and we want to own our own site. ​

“But aside from that, expanding at the existing site isn’t practical as there isn’t enough room to increase production.”​

The new site would have room for five to six production lines, enabling the firm to increase production significantly, given that it was currently only running one at a time, he said.

Launched in the early 1980s, New Forest supplies a range of customers from cruise liners to hotels, restaurants, shops and leisure parks across West Sussex, Hampshire, Dorset, and Berkshire.

It also has regional listings for its branded tubs at Waitrose, Tesco, Sainsbury and Asda, he said. “But we’re not interested in supplying own-label ice cream. It’s the road to ruin.”​

Through partnerships with distributors, it is also reaching customers as far afield as Manchester and Norfolk.