She may have been just five at the time, but without knowing it, Christina helped write ice cream history when she suggested to her father that he make his own ice cream, as he was unable to find a reliable ice cream supplier for the family’s post office and village store. And so, as they say, the rest is history!
It wasn’t long before word spread and demand for what had now become the New Forest Ice Cream brand, intensified beyond the village post office and store. As such, Christina’s parents, Lawrie and Sue Jenman, began to sell their ice cream in small batches to other local shops, pubs and restaurants.
With customers increasing, we moved production from Gordleton to our very first dedicated unit, on the edge of New Forest National Park. From here, volumes amplified, with new ice cream flavours, sorbets, lollies wrapped iced treats and even small tubs added to the growing range.
With ice cream firmly rooted in our DNA, it was no surprise that Christina & twin sister Niki, soon joined the family business, alongside their sister Karen & brother Graham, in January 2000. Continuing to expand the family connection cousin Dave (Bishop) joined shortly after as production director.
With many visitors to the area recommending the quality of New Forest Ice Cream to friends and family back home, requests for New Forest Ice Cream went beyond the New Forest. This helped to secure listings in several supermarket chains, and for the first time, New Forest Ice Cream was available across the South of England.
The introduction of New Forest Ice Cream into supermarkets meant that after just 10 years we had once again outgrown our home! After drawing a blank on finding a suitable location within the New Forest, we took the very hard decision to move our distribution and sales slightly outside, and purchased a site in Southampton.
By doubling our fleet of branded vans, we were able to widen our delivery area, whilst also providing customers with more regular deliveries. This allowed us to take our ever-growing range of ice creams and sorbets to customers even further afield.
Fourteen years after the first batch of New Forest Ice Cream was created our brand achieves national recognition, with specialist wholesalers across the country helping to ensure that New Forest Ice Cream can now be enjoyed by customers hundreds of miles outside the New Forest.
National availability leads to national awards as our Vanilla, Liquorice Ice Cream and Sambuca sorbet becoming the first New Forest Ice Cream flavours to win prestigious Great Taste Awards. Since then, we’ve gone on to scoop over 20 coveted accreditations for many of our bestselling and most popular flavours.
We are back to where it all began – just outside the New Forest! Having yet again outgrown our premises, we invest in a state-of-the-art, purpose-built production and storage facility in Lymington. Years of hard-work, planning and investment have now given us one of the best food production facilities in the country.
Living and working in the wonder that is the New Forest National Park, means we are all too aware of the importance of the environment and the countryside around us. Our headquarters, built over 6 years ago, is fitted with solar panels, heat recovery technology and water collection systems, all in an effort to help us reduce our footprint.
After more than 20 years working in the business, Christina and Niki take over the reins as Mum and Dad (Sue & Lawrie) officially retire. Don’t think that changes anything though – the company continues its family-run ethos with all the same values and focus on quality and service that it always has.
Our fleet of vehicles grows yet again, with the addition of a further three new vans, all complete with eye-catching New Forest National Park branding. This additional capacity helps to increase deliveries even further over the busy summer months.
We expand our range again, this time with the introduction of 500ml take home tubs which are quickly sold in retail stores across the UK. Featuring a new pack design and eight new flavours, the new tubs ensure that New Forest Ice Cream is perfect for a night curled up on the couch!
After 36 years, we made the biggest change in our history by unveiling a revamped New Forest Ice Cream logo. Paying homage to our heritage &our unique location near New Forest National Park, the new logo keeps the primary blue & red colouring, but brings it into the 21st century with icons that depict the forest, the coast & the sectors we serve.
An all-new online ordering system launches to make it easier for customers to get their orders in when it suits them.
We celebrated our Ruby anniversary with a new flavour – Prosecco, White Chocolate & Raspberry.
So far 2024 has seen the launch of new products including the Jazzie, and the return of some old favourites.
Our brochure gives you the complete run down of all our flavours, equipment and products. Just sign up using the ‘brochure request‘ button from our top menu bar.
