Top 10 Best Ice Cream Brands in Exeter

Why Devon Ice Cream Is Genuinely Different

Devon's reputation for dairy is not marketing. The county's mild, wet climate produces lush grass for much of the year, and grass-fed milk has a higher fat content and a distinctive flavour that shows clearly in cream. Devon clotted cream is protected by designation, and the same raw material underpins the county's ice cream.

That advantage explains why so many long-established family dairies in the South West moved into ice cream production and why they have retained loyal customers for generations. In Exeter you will find these traditional brands sitting alongside modern gelato makers, small-batch producers and plant-based specialists, giving the city an unusually varied selection for its size.

Understanding the Different Styles

Traditional dairy ice cream has a high butterfat content and is churned with more air, giving it a light, creamy texture. Devon farmhouse ice cream typically pushes the dairy content further, producing a rich, dense result. Gelato is made with more milk and less cream, churned slowly with less air and served slightly warmer, which intensifies flavour perception. Sorbet contains no dairy at all, relying on fruit and sugar. Modern plant-based ice creams use oat, coconut, cashew or soya bases, and the best now rival dairy versions for texture.

The Top 10 Ice Cream Brands Available in Exeter

1. Salcombe Dairy

A South Devon institution producing ice cream and sorbet from local milk and cream with an emphasis on natural ingredients. Their chocolate, made with proper chocolate rather than powder, and their fruit sorbets are widely stocked in Exeter delis, farm shops and cafés.

2. Langage Farm

A family dairy in South Devon making ice cream and clotted cream from its own herd. The vanilla is a benchmark for what Devon dairy should taste like, and the brand appears on menus across the county.

3. Hockings Devon Ice Cream

A North Devon name with genuine heritage, famous for its distinctive vanilla served from traditional vans. For many people in the region the flavour is inseparable from childhood summers, and it remains a benchmark for classic Devon ice cream.

4. Granny Gothards

A small-batch Somerset and Devon producer known for adventurous flavours made with serious technique. Their willingness to work with unusual ingredients has made them a favourite among chefs and independent retailers.

5. Rocombe Farm Organic

An organic producer making ice cream from certified organic milk and cream without artificial additives. Their approach appeals strongly to customers who read labels carefully.

6. Otter Valley Dairy

Producing farmhouse ice cream in East Devon using milk from their own herd, with seasonal flavours reflecting local fruit harvests. Available at Exeter markets and farm shops.

7. Quay Gelato

A city-centre gelateria making gelato and sorbet fresh daily in small batches. Their Italian technique produces a denser, more intensely flavoured product, and the rotating seasonal board rewards repeat visits.

8. Riverside Plant Based Creamery

A dedicated vegan producer using oat and cashew bases to achieve genuinely creamy results. Their chocolate and salted caramel flavours convert sceptics regularly, and they serve a growing market in the city.

9. Topsham Scoop House

A small independent making ice cream on site with Devon dairy and local fruit, known for creative combinations and a strong presence during the estuary's busy summer months.

10. Moorland Creamery

A Dartmoor-edge producer making rich farmhouse ice cream sold through farm shops, cafés and visitor attractions across the moor and into Exeter.

How to Judge Quality

Read the ingredients. Genuine dairy ice cream lists milk, cream, sugar, egg yolk and flavouring. Long lists featuring vegetable fat, glucose syrup, emulsifiers and multiple stabilisers indicate an industrial product designed for shelf life rather than flavour.

Assess the texture. Quality ice cream melts into cream rather than collapsing into foam or leaving a waxy residue on the palate. Overrun, the amount of air whipped in, matters enormously: cheap products can be more than half air, which is why a large tub sometimes weighs surprisingly little.

Consider the colour. Real vanilla ice cream is pale cream with visible seed specks, not bright yellow. Strawberry made with fruit is a muted pink rather than vivid. Intense colour usually signals additives.

Where to Find Good Ice Cream in Exeter

The city's independent delis, farm shops and cafés stock the better regional brands, and Exeter's markets are a reliable place to find smaller producers selling directly. Along the quay and the Exe estuary path, seasonal kiosks and cafés serve Devon ice cream to walkers and cyclists throughout summer, and the setting undeniably improves the experience.

Many Exeter restaurants also make their own or work with small local producers on bespoke flavours, so the ice cream at the end of a meal is often worth asking about rather than skipping.

Seasonality and Flavour

Devon's growing season shapes the best flavours. Late spring brings rhubarb, early summer strawberries, then raspberries and currants, followed by blackberries and apples in autumn. Producers working with these harvests offer noticeably better fruit flavours than year-round products relying on frozen purée.

Winter sees richer offerings: burnt caramel, chocolate, spiced varieties and Christmas pudding flavours. Buying seasonally from small producers is the single easiest way to eat better ice cream.

The Growing Plant-Based Market

Vegan ice cream has improved dramatically. Early versions were icy and thin, but modern formulations using oat and cashew bases with careful fat and sugar balance now achieve genuinely creamy texture. Several Exeter cafés now offer plant-based options as a default alongside dairy rather than as a token alternative.

For a city of its size, Exeter offers exceptional ice cream, rooted in one of the best dairy regions in Europe and increasingly enriched by modern producers bringing new techniques. Whether you want a traditional Devon vanilla from a van or a seasonal sorbet made that morning, the choice here is genuinely excellent.