Ryeburn of Helmsley


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The Otterburn Family: From dairy farmers to ice cream makers

The Otterburn family, which own and run the firm, farmed on the site that now houses the café and production unit for 100 years. Richard and Christine still live in the farmhouse, while son David now owns one of the farmworkers' cottages. Helmsley, dairy farming and the moors run through the veins of the Otterburns.

And although Ryeburn of Helmsley is today a modern, forward-thinking company, the Otterburns fell into ice cream making almost by accident - simply as a means of using up milk quotas from the family herd, when these were introduced in the late 1980s.

The first batches were sold literally to callers at the back door of the factory and from a traditional ice cream van stationed in the town. But as word spread about the quality of the Ryeburn products, the queues grew longer and longer, until the family decided to build the present shop and café on the site of their former farm.

The menu was expanded to include breakfasts, light lunches and full dinners. However, ice cream, to this day, is absolutely central to the café, with diners facing the delicious dilemma that results from being presented with a patchwork of 48 flavours, from Cookies and Cream to Peach and Brandy or from Liquorice and Fruits of the Forest to Gin and Lavender, including a dozen or so sorbets (milk protein-free), carefully created to give that smooth creamy texture that so many sorbets lack.

But the café is now only a small part of the Ryeburn story. The family no longer farms, instead concentrating full time on the business, supplying ice cream to numerous retail outlets and top quality hotels throughout Yorkshire. As well as the 48 varieties on offer in the café, there are new ones added all the time and David is even happy to create exclusive concoctions for his customers.

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