It all began 20 years ago with a copy of Farmers Weekly. ‘My husband, Julian, was looking to diversify,’ recalls Katherine Ogier, who took over the running of her family’s Le Hechet Farm in the parish of Castel in 1996, together with its 40-strong dairy herd. ‘He happened to spot an advert about turning your milk into ice cream. He and my sister Rachel approached the people who had placed it and then went over to the Isle of Wight to see a commercial ice-cream maker in action.’ So impressed were the pair by what they saw that they came home and converted an old shed in the farm’s yard into an ice-cream parlour and Guernsey Farmhouse Ice Cream was born.
The churn (pun intended) can feel relentless at this time of year, with Guernsey Farmhouse Ice Cream in high demand at events such as the Royal Guernsey Agricultural & Horticultural Society Show, as well as in shops and restaurants. ‘We make it once a week in the summer,’ Katherine explains when we speak, with the herd — now numbering 80 — lowing audibly in the background. ‘Julian milks the cows in the morning and we take the milk straight to the parlour. It’ll become ice cream within half an hour of milking.’ Flavour-wise, the balmy climate lends a helping hand. ‘My dad has a greenhouse and whatever he provides we use: at the moment, that means lots of nectarines and plums.’ Honeycomb and salted caramel are perennially popular (‘we can’t make enough’) and because the company has been around for so long ‘everyone here has a favourite flavour’. ‘We’ve never had to advertise,’ Katherine says proudly.
'Guernsey is perfectly set up to be an ice-cream nirvana'
Guernsey is perfectly set up to be an ice-cream nirvana, thanks to its combination of picturesque beaches (all served by kiosks, a much-loved answer to the question ‘where shall we eat?’), plenty of sunshine and, of course, world-renowned dairy cows.
Guernseys are a storied breed: according to one legend, they were brought to the island in AD960 by monks banished from Mont St Michel in France, but the English Guernsey Cattle Society states that they were the result of crossing Isigny cattle from Normandy with the Froment du Leon from Brittany. Naturally docile, they were formally recognised as a separate breed in 1700 (a law was passed preventing the importing of foreign cattle in 1789) and a central dairy was opened in 1951 to process the milk from the then 400-odd farms. Today, the number stands at only 11 farms, but the Guernseys are still going strong: Guernsey is home to 1,250 milking cows, which between them produce 7.6 million litres of milk annually. Some 5.6 million of this is sold ‘as is’, with the rest being turned into butter, cheese, cream — and ice cream.
‘Guernsey milk is special because it’s naturally high in butterfat,’ says Andrew Tabel, operations director at Guernsey Dairy, which has been making ice cream for 25 years and sells some 110,000 litres of it annually. ‘Our average butterfat content here is about 5.3%, which is about 2% higher than in the rest of the UK.’ When it comes to ice cream, that makes a big difference. ‘Lots of makers add additional fat in the form of things such as milk powder for a creamy taste, but we don’t have to: we only use whole milk and cream.’
Its tubs of vanilla, chocolate, strawberry and mint Belgian chocolate chip, decorated with local scenes (including a yacht spied from Bordeaux Harbour) are a familiar sight all over the Bailiwick. Such is the interest in its wares that Guernsey Dairy recently launched an ice-cream map of the island, designed to be folded into walkers’ pockets and detailing seven different routes, which between them take in 20 ice-cream-selling kiosks. One of the longest suggested itineraries, a four-to-five hour route from Petit Bot to La Vallette Bathing Pools, incorporates several.
At the moment, both Guernsey Dairy ice cream and Guernsey Farmhouse Ice Cream are only available within the Bailiwick (‘We keep it all to ourselves, I’m afraid!’ laughs Andrew), so non-residents can only enjoy it on holiday. Or, if you are lucky enough to be invited to a wedding, you might well spot the Guernsey Farmhouse Ice Cream cart at the reception. ‘Last week we did one on the beach — we’ll serve ice cream to guests when the photographs are being taken or for pudding,’ notes Katherine. ‘People were asking lots of questions about the cows and we got so many lovely comments. It does keep you going when you’re up before 5am ahead of 12 hours of ice-cream making.’
This feature originally appeared in the August 13 2025, issue of Country Life. Click here for more information on how to subscribe'
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