The UK’s first real fruit ice cream shop ‘Follow the Swirl’ has opened for business in Margate’s old town. ‘Follow the Swirl’ serves New Zealand-inspired real fruit ice cream using fresh fruit grown by farmers across Kent mixed with milk produced by pedigree Jersey Cows from the Jersey Dairy farmers cooperative in the Channel Islands.
Real fruit ice cream’ is a New Zealand concept that uses seasonal berries, blended
with ice cream from sustainable dairies or plant-based sources to create a fresh tasting, healthier and more natural ice cream, served in a swirl.
The business, which is located at 12a King Street in Margate’s old town, is the
brainchild of Charlotte Kimber and Steve Taylor – founders of the popular Little Swift
bar and shop on Margate’s seafront – and New Zealander Nicole Ferris.
Customers simply pick from a selection of different seasonal Kent-grown berries or
other fruits, choose their ‘cream’ – dairy vanilla or a plant-based nut ice cream – and
a scoop of each is then added to Follow the Swirl’s ‘Little Jem’ ice cream blending
machine, which has come all the way from Nelson, New Zealand. The ice cream is
then blended and swirled into a cone or a tub, to order, for each customer.
Follow the Swirl also serves a rotating, delicious range of slushies and sundaes
such as the ‘Tirama-sundae’ – a riff on a tiramisu – peanut butter cup and miso
caramel mash-up.
Where it all started:
The Kiwi summer is all about the outdoors, BBQs and ice cream. The end-of-theday treat is a real fruit ice cream: real fruit, blended with ice cream, made fresh,
right in front of you.
New Zealander Ferris says her fondest memories of home revolved around having
a real fruit ice cream at Omaha Organic Blueberry Farm (OOB), where they make
and serve real fruit ice cream overlooking the farm’s blueberry bushes, next to the
packing sheds, with the sea just a stone’s throw away.
The ‘eureka’ moment for the business came during a conversation Ferris had with a
bunch of fellow Kiwis at a networking event in London. They reminisced about how
New Zealand real fruit ice cream was the single thing they missed the most about
their homeland. In January this year, Ferris, Taylor and Kimber visited New Zealand
to research, taste and learn how to create real fruit ice cream.
Team bio
Nicole Ferris
Nicole is a Kiwi who came to the UK for the big ‘overseas experience’ in 2011 and
never left. She has more than 15 years’ experience in the hospitality industry,
working in events, hotels and cafes. Ferris has run a specialty coffee company in
London since 2016, her passion for sustainability is a key driver for her work.
Steve Taylor
With a 20-year career in hospitality, Steve is a career host and food and drink
specialist. From 2008 to 2016, he managed some of London’s most reputable and
successful pubs, craft beer bars and multi-site groups before relocating to Margate,
where his grandfather trained as a butcher. He co-founded the Little Swift bar and
shop with Kimber in 2019.
Charlotte Kimber
Embedded within the Margate community as the ‘hostess with the mostest; at
popular seafront bar Little Swift, Kimber has made Margate her home for the last
six years. She previously spent a decade working in the jewellery industry and has
experience of purchasing, supplier relationship management and product
development. As co-owner of the Little Swift with Taylor, Kimber understands the
needs of Margate consumers – both locals and visitors to the town – and the
demands of running a seasonal business.