ABERDEENSHIRE family business Mackie’s of Scotland has landed a deal, worth more than £100,000 in annual sales, which will see its ice cream stocked in 80 Marks & Spencer stores across Scotland.

The contract is for one-litre tubs of Mackie’s “traditional”, a natural flavour without added vanilla that was the company’s first ice cream. Mackie’s began producing ice cream in 1986, using excess cream and milk from its former milk-retailing business.

Emillie Emblin-James, frozen-food buyer at Marks & Spencer, said the Aberdeenshire firm’s “attention to being a green and ethical company while delivering a high-quality product are among the many reasons why we were keen to have its tubs on our shelves”.

Mackie’s hopes the supply deal with Marks & Spencer will attract new consumers of its ice cream, as well as increasing availability for existing ones.

The ice-cream maker's turnover rose by 13 per cent during the year to May 31, 2018, to a record £13.9m, with increases in ice-cream sales and revenue from electricity generation. Operating profit rose by 20% to £1.33m. Mackie’s calculates it has 22% of the Scottish premium branded ice-cream market, which it says ranks it first.

Bill Thain, national account manager at Mackie’s, said: “We’re delighted to be one of the brands to be welcomed into the prestigious M&S Scottish range.”

Mackie’s, which uses renewable energy from wind turbines, solar panels and a biomass plant in the production of its ice cream, has announced a £4 million project to replace its old freezers with low-carbon, “power-efficient” units run on ammonia. It described ammonia as “a natural refrigerant gas that poses no threat to the environment”.