VIACONA

We are young, modern passionate gelato lovers, inspired by bringing a modern Slow Food twist to our family heritage of artisan gelato-making. We hand-make everything fresh daily using the best seasonal ingredients and organic dairy produce.
For Antonio the maestro, it all began when he was a boy living in Calabria in southern Italy. His grandfather was a gelato maker before him, and he is tremendously excited to carry on the family tradition at La Gelatiera.

The name La Gelatiera refers to the traditional gelato churn used originally by artisans to make gelato. We chose it because we are passionate about the craft involved with making the best gelato. We want to share everything about our gelato and so we even ask customers to visit our laboratory inside our shop to see La Gelatiera in use. Here you can watch the gelato churning process, and have your coffee made on our unique Victoria Arduino Leva machine before relaxing in the handcrafted shop furniture constructed from reclaimed materials.

THE GELATO::
The unsurpassed quality of our gelato is a result of our carefully chosen ingredients, genuine craftsmanship, and the science and creativity of our maestro and co-owner Antonio.
To ensure freshness and quality, our gelato is made fresh daily on the premises, in small batches, using our original recipes and traditional process called Mantecazione.
Our gelato is 100% natural and free of any additives or preservatives whatsoever.
The slow-food philosophy is at the heart of what we do. We work on the simple principle that only the freshest fruit and finest ingredients in the world must be used
We also go the extra mile by using raw Jersey Cow milk and cream from one of the country's best local dairy. We pasteurise our dairy ourselves in our premises to keep all its freshness and goodness.
Our home made gelato and sorbet bases are also egg and gluten free and made fresh every day. Low glycemic index (GI) range coming soon.
The result is a gelato that is packed with flavors, refreshing, rich in vitamins and healthy nutriments, and low in fat (0% – 6%). It has never been so good to be healthy!
We also offer a large choice of non-dairy and vegan flavors all made with Love.

Our flavours of artisan ice cream range from sea salted caramel to one of our award winning ice creams the Cornish blue and walnuts, which is a fantastic marriage of a gentle award winning cheese and caramelised walnuts. We have something for everyone to enjoy.

AWARDS:
Overall it's not just our customers that can't get enough of our incredible gelato and sorbet, the judges of the Great Taste Awards 2015 have ranked two of our products in the Top 50 Foods for the 3rd year in a row. This year both our Hazelnut IGP gelato and the Sicilian Pistacchio sorbet are making the Top 50 list out of 10,000 products entered.
But really it is our Sicilian Pistacchio sorbet number that stole the hearts of the judges of the Great Taste Awards this year also winning the ultimate Golden Fork for London and South East (aka London's best food).
Overall the GTA judges have awarded us a total of 25 coveted gold stars across 14 of our fantastic products, including five 3 gold stars, plus 4 Top 50 Foods and 2 ultimate Golden Fork for London and South East.

GROWTH PLANS:
Having established our business and brand in Covent Garden, it is now time to build upon our success and expand making sure that as many people can enjoy the La Gelatiera experience. We are increasing our business to business catering, and have a large demand for corporate events and festivals. We have even started our delivery service which we wish to grow
The first part of our expansion plans will start with our new shop in Stratford within the Olympic Village, which is due to open spring / summer 2016 and we are looking for investment to make sure we are in the best possible position to create an impactful launch and also allow us to work on the shop opening during the quieter winter months with out too much strain to the business cashflow.