Aug 7th, 2024
5 mins
I scream, you scream, we all scream for…
Marshfield Farm Ice Cream, a family-run business in South Gloucestershire, started small but now supplies delicious ice cream nationwide to over 8,000 parlours, cafés, restaurants, and farm shops. Farmed by the Hawking family since the 1970s, the Red Tractor-approved and Soil Association Organic farm produces over 30 award-winning ice cream flavours, using milk from its own herd of 240 British Friesian cows, all made on-site within 24 hours.
Marshfield Farm aims to be the most beloved ice cream among British families while positively impacting the planet. As a B Corp certified company, it adheres to high Environmental, Social, and Governance (ESG) standards and has implemented a comprehensive 3-year ESG strategy with specific goals.
The company’s environmental goals include building on work they’ve already done to reduce energy usage where possible, and to create its own energy from renewable sources. These measures have included 100% of heat requirements coming from a wood pellet boiler, heating and cooling of ice cream coming from a heat exchanger, and all lights being timed LEDs. As the scale of production increased, it was an obvious decision to increase the amount of electricity generated from solar PV across the available roof space of the factory, barns and farm buildings.
Marshfield Farm Ice Cream’s growth, driven by perfecting their craft and customer recommendations, led to Mypower being suggested by a satisfied client to design a suitable solar energy system for the farm. Installing solar PV across multiple buildings required meticulous planning of cabling, distribution, and data connectivity to track the carbon savings committed in Marshfield’s ESG goals.
In 2022, Mypower installed a 446 kWp solar PV system which increased the on-site solar energy capacity by 400%. Then in early 2024, Mypower returned to install Phase 2, adding a further 334 kWp, taking the total Mypower system size to 780.99 kWp. The total system will provide over 40% of the farm’s annual electricity needs.
“Marshfield Farm Ice Cream is a family run, multi-generational business and our ice cream is dependent on the health of our cows, the land they roam and our planet. Installing more solar panels on the otherwise unused rooftops of our buildings will mean the farm will be powered by renewable energy into at least the next generation. Mypower have been an ideal fit for Marshfield Farm, acting with care and professionalism, and we look forward to welcoming the team back for the next phase (and some more ice cream).”
