A COUPLE who found the market to be lacking in luxurious frozen desserts that were both gluten and dairy-free decided to try their hand at making it themselves – and in April this year dipped their feet in the water and supplied it to shops.

Just six months later, Jollyum – a soya alternative to ice cream – has won best new product at the Deliciously Yorkshire awards and Andrew and Morn Robson are considering a move to larger premises.

Mrs Robson, from Kirklington Village, near Bedale, was brought up as a vegetarian and said she was often disappointed by substitute ice creams and desserts that lacked the flavour or richness to make it feel like a proper treat.

She said: “We had been doing a bit of background work for a while before the launch in April and found there was a growing market for this kind of product.

“People have come to realise they can expect more from dairy and gluten-free products and we thought it was a good time to deliver an ice cream alternative that is really tasty and organic too.”

There are currently four flavours of Jollyum – double chocolate, maple and pecan, passion fruit and chocolate, and strawberry – and all are free from gluten, lactose, cholesterol, egg, artificial flavours or colours and are suitable for vegetarians and vegans.

Mrs Robson said: “We find they do not taste very different from normal ice cream and that has been the feedback we have had from customers. We have not tried to make a healthy or low-fat product. It is very much a dessert.”

The couple converted one of their outbuildings for the small-scale production unit, but demand has increased and now they are thinking about looking for somewhere bigger.

“Nothing has been set in stone but we are looking into new flavours too – we have been asked for vanilla but we still need to come up with recipes.”

She added: “I think we had a pretty good idea that it would do well because we had done the market research but we didn’t think it would do so well in mainstream outlets, which it has.

“And to win the title of best new product at Deliciously Yorkshire was fantastic – we were up against really strong competition so I hope it will move us forward because the brand carries a lot of clout.

“If people see that the judges liked the product they might give it a try even if they do not specifically need a ‘free-from’ product.”

Jollyum frozen desserts have a recommended retail price of £1.89 for 125ml tubs but some stockists charge more.

Stockists include: Lakeside Farm Shop and Cafe, Scorton; Spring House Farm Shop, Northallerton; The Health Warehouse, Darlington; Sutton Bank National Park Centre, Thirsk and Fodder, Great Yorkshire Showground, Harrogate.

Visit www.jollyum.com for more stockists and information.