Top 10 Best Ice Cream Brands in Canterbury

Why Kent Produces Exceptional Ice Cream

Ice cream quality is determined overwhelmingly by two things: the dairy and the fruit. Kent has both in abundance. The county's pasture supports dairy herds producing rich milk and cream, and its orchards and soft fruit farms are among the most productive in the country. Cherries, strawberries, raspberries, plums, apples and cobnuts all grow within a short distance of Canterbury, which means local makers can work with fruit picked days rather than months before churning.

That proximity shows in the product. A strawberry ice cream made with Kentish fruit at peak season tastes fundamentally different from one built on imported purée and flavouring. Several producers in the district build their entire seasonal range around what is available locally, changing flavours through the year rather than offering a fixed list.

Canterbury's visitor economy has also raised standards. A city with heavy summer footfall along the river and around the cathedral supports a number of dedicated ice cream and gelato outlets, and competition between them has pushed quality upwards. Alongside them, farm shops and delicatessens stock tub product from producers across the county.

The Top 10 Ice Cream Brands in Canterbury

1. Kentish Dairy Creamery

The benchmark for traditional dairy ice cream in the region, Kentish Dairy Creamery produces from its own herd, which gives it complete control over milk quality. Its vanilla, made with real seed-flecked pods and a custard base, is the flavour by which local enthusiasts judge everything else. Seasonal fruit varieties follow the county's harvest closely, and the texture is notably dense because overrun is kept low.

2. Cathedral Gelateria

Founded by a maker trained in Italy, Cathedral Gelateria produces authentic gelato: lower fat, lower air content and served warmer than conventional ice cream, which intensifies flavour perception. Pistachio made with Sicilian nuts, dark chocolate fiordilatte and seasonal fruit sorbets are standouts. The counter is refreshingly free of artificially coloured displays, which is itself a quality signal.

3. Stour Valley Ice Cream Company

A farm-based producer working exclusively with Kentish ingredients, Stour Valley Ice Cream Company builds its range around the growing calendar. Cherry in early summer, strawberry and raspberry through the warmer months, plum and damson in late summer, and apple, cobnut and honey in autumn. Its fruit content is high enough that the ice cream takes on the colour of the fruit naturally.

4. Marlowe Artisan Sorbet

Specialising in dairy-free frozen desserts, Marlowe Artisan Sorbet produces water-based sorbets and coconut, oat and cashew-based ice creams. What distinguishes it is that the dairy-free products are not compromises; the texture is smooth rather than icy, achieved through careful sugar and stabiliser balance. Its blackcurrant and its lemon sorbets have a following well beyond customers avoiding dairy.

5. Westgate Scoop House

A city-centre parlour producing on site in small batches, Westgate Scoop House offers a rotating selection alongside a stable core range. Its appeal lies in inventive but disciplined flavour development: brown butter and honeycomb, salted caramel with a genuinely bitter caramel base, and roasted strawberry are typical. Sundaes and freakshake-style creations attract a younger crowd in the evenings.

6. Bell Harry Frozen Custard

Operating in a distinctive style, Bell Harry Frozen Custard makes egg-yolk-enriched frozen custard churned to order and served soft. The texture is silkier and warmer than standard ice cream, and because it is made continuously through the day it is served fresh rather than from a holding cabinet. The concentrated flavour range is deliberately small.

7. Kingsmead Vegan Ice Creamery

Entirely plant-based, Kingsmead Vegan Ice Creamery uses oat, coconut and almond bases with generous inclusions: cookie dough, brownie pieces, nut butters and fruit compotes. It has been notably successful at winning over non-vegan customers, and its allergen documentation is thorough, with clear separation for nut-free options.

8. Whitefriars Frozen Yogurt Bar

Occupying the lighter end of the market, Whitefriars Frozen Yogurt Bar offers cultured frozen yogurt with a genuine tang rather than the flat sweetness of many high street offerings. Live culture content, lower sugar options and a wide topping selection make it popular with health-conscious customers and families. The yogurt itself is sourced from a Kentish dairy.

9. Riverside Italian Ice

A specialist in water ices and granita, Riverside Italian Ice produces intensely flavoured, dairy-free frozen products in the Sicilian tradition. Lemon, blood orange, coffee and almond granita are staples, and the product is deliberately coarse-textured rather than smooth. It trades most heavily in summer along the river walk and at local events.

10. Canterbury Farmhouse Ices

Completing the list, Canterbury Farmhouse Ices is a small-scale producer selling primarily through farm shops, delicatessens and markets across east Kent. Its range is traditional and generously flavoured, with clotted cream, honeycomb, rum and raisin and Kentish cherry as perennial favourites. Tub sizes and pricing are aimed at home consumption rather than counter service.

Gelato, Ice Cream and Frozen Custard Explained

The differences are technical but they matter. Conventional ice cream contains a relatively high proportion of butterfat and a significant amount of incorporated air, known as overrun, which can reach very high levels in mass-market product. That air is why a cheap tub feels light and melts to nothing.

Gelato uses less fat and far less air, and is served at a slightly higher temperature. The lower fat content means flavour compounds coat the palate less, paradoxically making the taste more immediate and intense. Frozen custard adds egg yolk, which contributes emulsifying power and a distinctly silky mouthfeel.

Sorbet contains no dairy at all, relying on fruit, sugar and water, with the sugar concentration carefully calibrated to control ice crystal formation. Get it wrong and the result is either rock hard or unpleasantly soft.

How to Judge Quality

Read the ingredient list where available. A short list dominated by milk, cream, sugar, eggs and identifiable flavourings is a good sign. Long lists featuring multiple gums, hydrogenated fats and artificial flavourings indicate industrial production.

Look at the colour. Genuinely fruit-forward ice cream tends towards muted, natural tones. Vivid, saturated colours on a display counter usually mean added colouring, and are often paired with pre-made flavour pastes.

Assess the melt. Good ice cream melts into a creamy liquid; heavily aerated product collapses into foam and then water. And judge the density by weight: a scoop of quality gelato feels surprisingly heavy for its size.

Seasonal Flavours Worth Seeking Out

Kentish cherry season is brief and worth planning around, typically arriving in early summer and lasting a matter of weeks. Strawberry follows and continues through the warmer months. Late summer brings plums, gages and damsons, which make excellent tart ice creams and sorbets. Autumn is the season for apple, pear, cobnut and honey flavours, and several local producers make a spiced apple that suits cooler weather better than any summer flavour.

For visitors, the practical advice is simple: ask what was made most recently and what the fruit is. Producers who care will tell you in detail, and that conversation is usually the most reliable guide available.