Our History
Although Ian Buxton was not born into a farming family, he had a passion for everything rural and by the age of 21 he had graduated from Askham Bryan agricultural college and was managing Leeds University’s herd of 120 dairy cattle. In 1983 Ian married Lesley and in 1984 they rented an 80 acre dairy unit from North Yorkshire County Council. In 1986 the Buxton’s welcomed the first of their two children and Lesley chose to give up a career in food to raise the family and help Ian run the farm. It was at this time that they conceded there was little growth to be made in dairy farming and decided to pursue their mutual love of ice cream and in 1989 Yorvale Ice Cream was born.
From humble beginnings on their small rented farm the business has grown beyond their expectations. The farm was purchased in 1998 and it was at this time the expansion into purpose built manufacturing facilities on the farm started.
We now have 1350m² of space in which to process our delicious fresh and nutritious cow’s milk which moves just a 100 metres from cow to dairy each day to be made into Yorvale ice cream, kefir drinking yogurt and frozen kefir.
