Ice cream shop tastes success

A SIDMOUTH ice cream parlour and coffee shop has scooped three regional awards.

A Taste of Sidmouth, in Market Place, gained gold for its mango yogurt and Ferrero Rocher ice creams, and silver for its vanilla in the 2010 Taste of the West Awards.

The awards, established 17 years ago, celebrate the best of the region’s food and drink producers and retailers, and its hospitality industry. They cover 16 food and drink categories, divided into 23 classes, alongside four hospitality and two retail classes. The Sidmouth shop was the only entrant to get gold in the ice cream category.

Laura Bennett, 32, launched the business with her sister, Hazel Jones, 34, in February 2008. Since then, they have picked up national Ice Cream Alliance diplomas for their Christmas pudding; vanilla; chocolate and mango sorbet flavours, but this is their first Taste of the West recognition.

Laura said: “We are interested in being a good, local producer so joined Taste of the West at the beginning of the year to get involved, as a mark of quality.

“We’re very pleased to have won these awards, it’s almost better than the national ones because Taste of the West is so well thought of.”

The gold award winners are best sellers in the shop which has 16 ice cream varieties on sale at any one time. They are produced in the shop daily, using luxury Italian flavourings and Devon cream.

Laura said: “As a small, family-owned business, we’re delighted to get this recognition.”