Kelly's of Cornwall is a manufacturer of

ice cream Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from milk or cream that has been flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as Chocolate, cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit, such as strawberries or peaches. Food ...

based in

Bodmin Bodmin () is a town and civil parish in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom. It is situated south-west of Bodmin Moor. The extent of the civil parish corresponds fairly closely to that of the town so is mostly urban in character. It is bordered ...

Cornwall Cornwall (; or ) is a Ceremonial counties of England, ceremonial county in South West England. It is also one of the Celtic nations and the homeland of the Cornish people. The county is bordered by the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, ...

. It was founded in the 19th century in

St Austell Saint Austell (, ; ) is a town in Cornwall, England, United Kingdom, south of Bodmin and west of the border with Devon. At the 2021 Census in the United Kingdom, census it had a population of 20,900. History St Austell was a village centred ...

and ran as a family business for over 100 years. It is now owned by the conglomerate

Froneri Froneri International Limited is a global ice cream manufacturer with its headquarters in Leeming Bar, North Yorkshire, England. It is the largest producer of ice cream in Europe by volume, and the second-largest in the world, after Unilever. ...

based in Yorkshire. The company has achieved national prominence in the UK with its television advertising that promotes the

Cornish language Cornish (Standard Written Form: or , ) is a Southwestern Brittonic language, Southwestern Brittonic language of the Celtic language family. Along with Welsh language, Welsh and Breton language, Breton, Cornish descends from Common Brittonic, ...

. From June 2013 to June 2014, Kelly's produced around 14 million litres of clotted ice cream. During the same period, the company announced that it was the sixth largest ice cream manufacturer in Britain and forecast projected sales at £23 million for 2016.

History

Local history

The company was established as an ice cream and

fish and chips Fish and chips is a hot dish consisting of batter (cooking), battered and fried fish, served with French fries, chips. Often considered the national dish of the United Kingdom, fish and chips originated in England in the 19th century. Today, ...

business by Joseph Staffieri in the late 19th century after he migrated from Italy to

. His son-in-law, Lazero Calicchia took over the business in 1918, using a horse and cart to distribute ice cream around Cornwall. The mobile business operated with vans regularly travelling to beaches and landmarks around the county. The family name was changed to Kelly (with the company name following suit) in the 1930s, moving to Bodmin in the 1970s. The ice cream became popular at

agricultural show An agricultural show is a public event exhibiting the equipment, animals, sports and recreation associated with agriculture and animal husbandry. The largest comprise a livestock show (a judged event or display in which selective breeding, bree ...

s and has been a fixture at the Royal Cornwall Show since 1947. The ice cream has been produced from milk and

clotted cream Clotted cream (, sometimes called scalded, clouted, Devonshire or Cornish cream) is a thick cream made by heating full-cream cow's milk using steam or a water bath and then leaving it in shallow pans to cool slowly. During this time, the cream c ...

farmed and

pasteurised In food processing, pasteurization (American and British English spelling differences#-ise, -ize (-isation, -ization), also pasteurisation) is a process of food preservation in which packaged foods (e.g., milk and fruit juices) are treated wi ...

from a nearby dairy farm at

Trewithen Trewithen House is a Georgian country house in Probus, Cornwall, England. The Palladian house was built by London-based architect Thomas Edwards in 1723. The house is listed Grade I on the National Heritage List for England, and its gardens are ...

National success

Having become a popular ice cream in Cornwall, R&R Ice Cream (now

) announced a buyout of the company in 2008 to enable the product to be distributed nationally. The merger was completed in 2010 and allowed the product to be stocked in national supermarkets such as

Tesco Tesco plc () is a British multinational groceries and general merchandise retailer headquartered in the United Kingdom at its head offices in Welwyn Garden City, England. The company was founded by Jack Cohen (businessman), Sir Jack Cohen in ...

, though the company still tightly controls who is allowed to sell the ice cream. Kelly's continue to run the

ice cream van An ice cream van (Commonwealth English) or ice cream truck (North American English) is a commercial vehicle that ice cream products are sold from, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often used for street vending and ...

fleet independently of R&R. As part of the takeover, they have invested more in various "scooping parlours" that sell ice cream over the counter around Cornwall, including refurbishment of the buildings. As of 2016 Kelly's had at least 49 parlours spread across the county. From June 2013 to June 2014, Kelly's produced around 14.5 million litres (3.2m imp gal; 3.8m US gal) of their clotted ice cream. The same year, the company announced it was the sixth largest ice cream manufacturer in Britain. After a projected record sales of £23 million forecast for 2016, the company announced it would invest £2 million at its Bodmin factory, on the Walker Lines Industrial Estate, in order to increase output. In 2021, the packaging was rebranded and the range of ice cream expanded to include new chocolate and raspberry ripple flavours. Kelly's also announced they would sponsor the

Bumblebee Conservation Trust The Bumblebee Conservation Trust is an organisation in the UK that makes efforts to monitor and conserve bumblebees and their habitat. History The Bumblebee Conservation Trust was established by Dave Goulson in 2006 with a grant of £49,900 f ...

Promotion of Cornish

The company is a strong supporter of the

. In May 2016 it invested £2 million with the advertising agency Isobel for a prominent television and online advertising campaign. The advert was the first shown on national British television to make use of Cornish, featuring a man attempting to sell ice cream in a field of cows at Millbrook. It was shown on

prime time television Prime time, or peak time, is the block of broadcast programming taking place during the middle of the evening for television shows. It is mostly targeted towards adults (and sometimes families). It is used by the major television networks to b ...

, including breaks in ''

Britain's Got Talent ''Britain's Got Talent'' (often abbreviated to ''BGT'') is a televised British talent show competition, and part of the global '' Got Talent'' franchise created by Simon Cowell. Presented by Anthony McPartlin and Declan Donnelly (colloquial ...

''. After central Government funding for the Cornish language ceased in 2016, company representatives protested outside the

Houses of Parliament The Palace of Westminster is the meeting place of the Parliament of the United Kingdom and is located in London, England. It is commonly called the Houses of Parliament after the House of Commons and the House of Lords, the two legislative ch ...

. Following the advert's success, councillors in Cornwall hoped that the company's profits could be re-invested into local schemes helping to revive the language. The Cornish Language Partnership's Mark Trevethan said that while the adverts were entertaining, they made a serious point about the importance of language and the celebration of local culture.

References

External links

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Video of the 2016 advert
{{portalbar, Companies, England, Food Ice cream brands Companies based in Cornwall Cornish language revival Bodmin Froneri