A Devon-based ice cream maker has landed a huge 200k deal to supply their tasty frozen goods to a city in the Middle East.
But the process of getting the ice-cream there is quiet an epic one - and it involves its Devon makers flying across the world with it to get it to Bahrain in a solid state.
Specialising in all natural, hand churned ice creams and sorbets, Granny Gothards are well known for their wonderfully unique flavours, such as saffron and cardamom and beetroot and horseradish, but it is their latest innovation that won them a £200,000 a year contract in the Middle East.
The lucrative deal was reached following a trade delegation to the Kingdom of Bahrain as part of , which is led by Business West and supported by the Department for International Trade.
Granny Gothards’ owner Amanda Stansfield was one of 20 海角视频 food and drink producers that flew out to Bahrain to tempt supermarket buyers with their delicious products earlier this year.
The trip was ultimately a success but it posed a bit of a challenge in terms of logistics, given that its approximately 3,5000 miles from the Granny Gothards farm in Devon to Manama - the capital of Bahrain.
So how did Granny Gothards’ ices fare on their way to the desert? How on earth did they not melt in such extreme temperatures? The answer: dry ice and an owner willing to hot foot it across the globe.
The surface temperature of dry ice is -78.5c - by way of comparison the ice cream in our freezer chills at around -18c. This makes dry ice perfect for transporting frozen goods such as ice cream in ambient temperatures
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There is, however, a slight catch. Dry ice only lasts for around 18 hours before it evaporates.
This would not be such a concern if you could take the seven-hour flight from an airport in Devon directly to Bahrain, but at present this isn’t possible. So, in addition to time spent in the air, the ice creams also had to endure ground transportation in the 海角视频 before boarding.
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The journey from Cullompton in Devon to London Heathrow Airport takes approximately four hours. Assuming that you reach the airport at least two hours before departure time, this leaves you with 12 hours remaining of an 18-hour window before the ice cream melts.
Once on-board, the ice creams have a seven hour flight ahead of them. Factor in immigration and customs checks at Bahrain International Airport, and this leaves a three hour margin of error to account for any delays.
Even a slight delay embarking or disembarking the aircraft would’ve meant ice scream rather than ice cream for Granny Gothards, but luckily the journey went off without a hitch and the all-natural ices arrived in Bahrain in the nick (or should that be lick?) of time.
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Having raced against the clock to get her ice creams in front of Bahraini buyers, Amanda Stansfield said: "Our new orders are an exciting step in our export journey. Trading with Middle Eastern countries like Bahrain has some real benefits, as the year-round warm and dry climate means we can maintain sales outside of the 海角视频’s peak summer season.
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"The warm climate also means the ice cream market is flooded in Bahrain, which is why Alosra was keen to find something different to stock in its store. They loved that we had a very clean list of ingredients and, as there’s a growing focus on fitness in the Middle East, the high-protein nature of our PROice range was also a big draw.
"It’s likely we wouldn’t have made it to Bahrain if it wasn’t for support from the Great British Food Programme team at Business West and the local Department for International Trade team.
"Between them they have helped us with everything from addressing cultural differences to meeting new partners, and I’d encourage others to make the most of the support at hand. If we can export, you can too."
Turning everything that we know to be true about ice cream on its head – PROice is a high-protein, low-fat and low-sugar ice cream exclusively stocked at stores in Bahrain. Alosra is Arabic for ‘the family’, making the Granny Gothards brand a fittingly familial and natural choice for the upmarket grocery chain.