Cheese, gelato and sunshine – turns out that’s a winning combination. And, what a night it was as over 50 businesses gathered in the sunshine at May’s LA23NET to celebrate the launch of Three Hills Gelato which is being made in partnership with an award-winning Cumbrian farm.
Everyone attending not only got to taste the delicious new gelato, but also the cheese made at Torpenhow Farmhouse Dairy. And, we can confirm, they were both delicious.
The evening also included a chance to hear from farm owners Jenny and Mark Lee about how they have transformed the farm and used the organic milk from their Jersey/Friesian herd to make their renowned cheeses.
Now they have teamed up with Matthew Stockwell who learned his gelato making skills in Italy, and brought the traditional Italian techniques home to Cumbria. Together they have launched their venture: Three Hills Gelato.
The name is derived from Torpenhow and all the amazing gelato flavours such as whisky marmalade or blueberry crumble are made on the farm.
Matthew was delighted with the response from the LA23ers who queued up to try his gelato. “We are thrilled for the successful launch of Three Hills Gelato at the LA23NET event in Torpenhow.
“The response from everyone has been overwhelmingly positive, with great enthusiasm for our unique gelato offerings.
“Three Hills Gelato is proud to be 100 per cent Cumbrian, made in North Cumbria by a small team of passionate local people. We exclusively use delicious organic milk and cream sourced from the farm right here at Torpenhow – that means it only travels a few metres from the field to our production unit.”
LA23ers also heard from Craig Brough, land agent at Hopes Auction, and Robbie Tuer from Aspatria Farmers who both spoke about the pressures faced by Cumbrian farmers and how the kind of diversification of Torpenhow Farmhouse Dairy was a good example of how to create a more sustainable business model.
Among those attending was Martin Hounsby, of NXT Recruitment who are one of our sponsors. “It has been a very well attended event and with the farm tours and visits into the cheese and gelato making areas we’ve learned a lot as well as enjoyed some delicious food.”
LA23NET organiser Helen Statham, broke off from enjoying her chocolate and cherry gelato to say: “We’ve really enjoyed bringing so many businesses together to learn more about the amazing story behind this farm and to see how their cheeses are made.
“And when you can round off an event with gelato as delicious as Three Hills it’s just a perfect evening.”
We had an incredible time and we’d like to say a huge thank you to everyone who came along and to our hosts Mark, Jenny and Matthew. What a way to celebrate a new business.
Check out the photos from the night on our flickr here.
