Pictured above: Young consumer samples Tiger ice cream

Churchfields Farmhouse Ice Cream, were thrilled when they were asked to produce an ice cream in honour of the Chinese New Year 'Year of the Tiger'.

The special tiger-striped ice cream, made from orange and chocolate was to form part of Dudley Zoological Gardens', celebration of the Chinese New Year which this year is The Year of the Tiger.

Dudley Zoological Gardens devised a special oriental themed event recently to include papier mâché lantern making, tiger face painting and a fun zoo trail to find 12 other animals in the Chinese calendar. 

The delicious Orange and Chocolate Ripple Tiger ice cream just added even more fun and flavour to the event. Gillian Kerton, who runs Churchfields Ice Cream, was delighted by the request from Dudley Zoological Gardens, as the Salwarpe-based dairy are always keen to respond to specific customer demands.

Mrs Kerton says: "Unlike our larger competitors we can be extremely agile in responding to customer demands as our ice cream is made in relatively small batches, which means we are able to produce 'tailor-made' flavours such as the Orange and Chocolate Ripple.

"We are often asked to produce bespoke ice cream for special events, for example the Pershore Plum Festival, which means that we are also able to support local producers by responding to produce seasonality;" adds Mrs Kerton." 

The ice cream seemed to prove popular with the young visitors and parents attending the Chinese New Year - Year of the Tiger event. Dudley Zoological Gardens' Chief Executive Officer, Peter Suddock, said: "The Tiger Ice Cream was a roaring success with our visitors - we ran out at one point during our New Year celebrations and had to order more supplies.

"We have a long standing partnership with Churchfields Farmhouse Ice Cream - various exotic flavours appear throughout the year - and are delighted to support such a fantastic local supplier."