How Holy Cow is growing carefully without losing its community roots

How careful diversification, stronger partnerships, and a clear sense of purpose are helping Holy Cow grow sustainably

When Laura Gutane opened Holy Cow in Seaford 10 years ago, she had never run a business before. She had not worked in food production, and she had certainly never made ice cream commercially. What she did have was a clear idea of the kind of experience she wanted to create.

Originally from Latvia, Laura has lived and travelled in many different countries, and food had always been part of how she experienced place and community. But one memory stayed with her: a local ice cream parlour near her parents’ home, where the produce was good, the staff were friendly, and the experience felt generous and welcoming.

When Laura moved from London to the south coast in 2015, that idea began to take shape. Seaford is a seaside town, but it had no dedicated ice cream parlour locally and there was little between Brighton and Eastbourne offering the kind of experience she had in mind.

‘It was that kind of lovely idea, but also the practical side of it made sense too. A lot of people have the passion for business but it’s rare that they get the opportunity to live it out.’

A small property became available close to home, and Holy Cow was born.

Building a business around customer experience

At the beginning, Holy Cow was tiny. The shop had a small kitchen, and Laura made all the ice cream herself. Family, friends, and even her partner’s colleagues helped in the early days with customer service, taking deliveries, and parts of the financial operations.

‘It was a family affair,’ Laura says. ‘I made the ice cream at the beginning. I had weekends where I had to make and serve at the same time. Looking back, it was completely crazy.’

But the purpose was clear. Holy Cow would be family-friendly, community-focused, and welcoming to everyone. Customers could try flavours, children could build memories, and the shop would become what Laura calls ‘a little bright spot in the middle of everything’.

This is where Holy Cow’s value proposition became more than just ice cream. Thinking in terms of the Value Proposition Canvas, the business was not only meeting a functional customer need, buying a treat on a day out, but also emotional and social needs: quality, friendliness, belonging, local pride, and a sense of occasion.

That proposition has remained consistent. Holy Cow still makes ice cream in small batches, using good ingredients and protecting quality, even when costs rise. It also supports local charities and organisations, works with other local businesses and runs a pay-it-forward scheme.

‘It feels a bit like a community project as well,’ Laura says. ‘We’re very much rooted in the community, which was always a non-negotiable for me when I first started the business.’

Growing intentionally

Ten years on, Holy Cow has grown beyond the original shop. The business now has a small team of seven people, a seasonal beach site, and a wholesale arm supplying other businesses. But Laura is clear that growth has to be intentional.

‘When we talk about growth, we do want to grow and we need to grow to a certain degree, but we’re never going to be a huge business,’ she says. ‘Otherwise, our business will lose some of that essence.’

That realisation was strengthened by the Help to Grow: Management Course. Laura joined at a point when she was juggling almost every function herself: HR, finance, operations, marketing, bookkeeping, and day-to-day delivery.

‘When you run a small business, it can be a lonely place,’ she says. ‘You’re juggling many different jobs.’

The course helped her step back and look at the business more strategically. Rather than pursuing growth for its own sake, Laura began thinking more clearly about the size and shape of business she wanted to build.

This connects closely to the Sustainable Business Model Canvas. Holy Cow’s growth is not simply about selling more. It is about balancing revenue streams, costs, partnerships, customer relationships, and the values that make the business distinctive.

That balance matters because ice cream is highly seasonal. On a hot Summer’s day, Holy Cow can generate to 100 times more than it might on a quiet winter day. That creates pressure around staffing, stock, production, and cash flow.

‘There’s a lot of planning in advance,’ Laura says. ‘A lot of projections, a lot of figuring out what we do now to make the most of the season so that when it’s the quieter time, we’re prepared.’

Making seasonality more manageable

Some seasonality is unavoidable. As Laura puts it, being an ice cream business in the UK will always mean dealing with the weather, quieter winters, and sharp fluctuations in demand. But Holy Cow has worked to make the model more resilient.

Wholesale has become an important part of that. While retail offers better margins, wholesale provides another income stream and helps smooth out demand across the year, especially when supplying pubs, restaurants, and other businesses that continue serving ice cream outside the peak summer season.

As a result of Help to Grow: Management, Laura also started working with a distributor, a connection that came through another course participant.

‘It’s a step I don’t think I would have taken without the course,’ she says. ‘They’re good at logistics. I’m good at making ice cream. I’m not great at logistics.’

That insight reflects a key part of operations management in the course: understanding where the business creates value and where external partners can help improve delivery. For Holy Cow, working with a distributor does not mean losing control of the product. It means recognising that logistics is a specialist function and finding the right partner to support growth.

‘The course helped me recognise I don’t have to do everything,’ she says. ‘I just have to know somebody who’s good at doing the job that I’m not good at.’

Protecting the brand while diversifying

Diversification has not meant saying yes to everything. Laura has been approached about producing white label products, but has chosen not to pursue that route.

That decision reflects a strong understanding of positioning. Holy Cow is not trying to compete on volume or low price. Its strength lies in quality, community, local recognition, and the customer experience it has built over a decade.

That clarity also helps Laura resist pressure to chase sales that do not fit the business.

‘If you sell your small tub of ice cream for less, you might sell more,’ she says. ‘But why? You work harder for the same amount of money.’

For other small business leaders, this is one of Holy Cow’s most valuable lessons. Sustainable growth is not always about expanding as quickly as possible. Sometimes it is about knowing what kind of growth strengthens the business, and what kind risks diluting it.

Taking a step back

For Laura, one of the biggest benefits of the Help to Grow: Management Course was the opportunity to step outside the day-to-day pressure of running the business.

The peer group helped too. Speaking to other business owners showed her that many were dealing with similar challenges, even in completely different sectors.

‘You’re so close to it that you don’t see the bigger picture sometimes,’ she says. ‘Help to Grow: Management helped me take a step back and have a better look at our business.’

That bigger picture is now shaping Holy Cow’s next stage. The business is still small, still community-rooted, and still focused on making high-quality ice cream. But it is now more structured, more resilient, and more aware of the kind of growth that makes sense.

After 10 years, Holy Cow’s story is not just about turning a love of ice cream into a business. It is about building a brand with a clear purpose, adapting to seasonal pressures, and growing in a way that protects what made customers love it in the first place.

 

Latest articles