Leahy's Open Farm ice cream hits Aldi's shelves in the coming days

UP to 4,000 tubs of ice cream made by Leahys Open Farm staff in east Cork will go on sale in Aldi stores from Sunday.

The farm’s chocolate and honeycomb ice cream will be on the shelves along with products from more than 50 other food producers across the country as part of Aldi’s Grow with Aldi supplier development programme.

Teresa Leahy said seven pallets of ice cream were removed from the farm yesterday, with some being delivered to Aldi’s distribution centre in Naas this morning. The remaining ice cream will be delivered to the company’s distribution centre in Mitchelstown tomorrow morning.

The ice cream will be on sale in 28 Aldi stores around the country.

She said the product will be in Aldi stores for a two week period from June 6.

One full time worker and two part time workers have been taken on at the farm to help in the production of the ice cream, which is made from milk supplied by two local dairy farms.

The farm itself reopened to the public on April 26 after being closed under Covid-19 restrictions.

Plans are currently with Cork County Council for an extension of the open farm.

The application seeks permission to develop eight accommodation pods for short term letting, as well as an extension to the ice cream and chocolate factory at the farm.

A decision is expected shortly on whether permission will be granted. If it is, work will begin on the extension project this summer.

The 18 acre farm is home to an array of farm animals, including hens, ducks, goats, and sheep. Exotic animals living on the farm include a snake, a camel, an emu, alpaca and Fallabella horses.

The farm was opened to the public in 1996 and has grown since then.