Multi-award-winning artisan ice cream business hopes to continue ‘making people smile’ across Northampton

A multi-award-winning artisan ice cream business hopes to continue “making people smile” across Northampton, after scooping another prestigious county-wide award.

Your Cool is a small batch artisan producer of fresh and high quality ice creams and sorbets – made to order for local delivery or available as a unique experience for events, including weddings.

The business was established in late 2019 after many years as a thought in the back of the mind of the founder, Jo Rutherford.

Having enjoyed making ice cream in her former domestic machine for friends and family, Jo decided to take the leap from her career in marketing management to creating artisan ice cream.

As Your Cool was set up just months before the pandemic set in, Jo had to adapt and now offers a mixture of made-to-order ice cream for deliveries and events and stocks for a number of independent businesses.

Jo’s coffee ice cream, among the 80 flavours she has perfected, was recently named the gold artisan local product at the Weetabix Food and Drink Awards.

While Jo offers around 80 traditional and seasonal flavours – all created from her home in Spratton – she can even develop new flavours for customers if they request it.

The business founder says Your Cool has had a “really positive” reception from the Northampton community over the past four years.

Though she had to change her initial plan to focus on personalised ice cream products for events, the home deliveries of ‘ice cream treat packs’ during the pandemic “went really well”.

When asked what she believes it is that customers like most about the business, Jo says it is how the ice cream tastes as it is made with proper ingredients – rather than powders and mixes.

She also said it is her willingness to try and make any flavours requested by customers, which recently included a liquorice flavour.

Talking about her coffee ice cream being awarded gold at the Weetabix Food and Drink Awards, Jo said: “I’m really, really ecstatic about it. To have got such a high ranking award within four years is amazing.”

With no background in food products and switching from a completely different career years ago, Jo is proud of how far she has come.

Only last year, her elderflower sorbet was awarded bronze and Jo said: “It reassures me that I’m doing the right thing.”

This newspaper spoke to another of the gold artisan winners at the recent Weetabix Northamptonshire Food and Drink Awards – Emily Armstrong, who runs The Old Stableyard Tearoom at Holdenby House.

Emily shared that she and Jo hope to collaborate next year, with a plan for Your Cool ice cream to be stocked at the tearoom.

“It’s really important to push other local businesses and help where we can,” said Jo. “We want to find cake and ice cream flavours that work and compliment each other.”

Jo tries to use local ingredients wherever possible, which includes Manor Farm’s elderflower cordial in her elderflower sorbet and Great Brington Coffee’s beans in her coffee ice cream.

When asked what the customer favourites are among the tens of flavours, Jo revealed both vanilla and lemon meringue ice cream are up there.

When British strawberries are in peak season, she also said strawberry and Eton mess flavours prove popular.

The founder even goes above and beyond during the festive season, with her ‘magical reindeer poo ice cream’ – made from vanilla, chocolate chips and edible glitter.

While her recent gold award win is her proudest achievement to date, Jo says the pandemic was the biggest challenge she has had to overcome.

Having had the business set up and ready to go in early 2020, with wedding fairs booked and a clear plan of what she was going to do, it soon became clear this was not going to happen.

Though she is now “back on track”, Jo said: “Things are very different to how I planned it to be.”

She envisioned she would focus on personalised ice creams for weddings and corporate events, but Your Cool is now “far wider”.

The products are stocked in retail and coffee shops and Jo attends events with an ice cream trike, which was not the initial plan but the business owner is embracing it.

When asked what her hopes for the future of the business are, Jo said: “I really want to carry on doing what I’m doing and making people smile with the ice cream.”

When the quieter months arrive between the end of summer and start of the festive season, Jo will be focusing on the development of a wider variety of dairy free ice creams.

To find out more about Your Cool, visit the business’ Facebook page here.