Successful concepts of the gelato industry – Gelatissimo 2020

GELATISSIMO, the largest trade fair for gelato north of the Alps, will be held in Stuttgart from 15 to 19 February 2020 in conjunction with INTERGASTRA, the leading trade fair for the hotel and gastronomy business. Gelatieri, owners of ice cream parlours and cafés, as well as restaurateurs from around the world will then meet at this industry event in order to obtain information about the latest techniques, raw materials, modern equipment and possible sales concepts for their business model.

“The industry holds great development potential. Experienced gelatieri look for inspirations at GELATISSIMO while lateral entrants can quickly obtain an overview of their opportunities,” said Markus Tischberger, Project Manager for INTERGASTRA and GELATISSIMO. The fact that the industry also provides ample scope for unusual concepts is demonstrated by the successful business models of Ralf Sander, Managing Director of “Gimme Gelato”, Roman Schaller, founder of the “Mia Gelateria” franchise chain, and a food designer David Marx, founder of the food lab The Science Kitchen. Successful lateral entry – through innovation and passionCraftsmanship, taste, authenticity and innovations – these four pillars form the basis for the successful concept of Ralf Sander’s ice cream parlour brand “Gimme Gelato”.
Innovation, for example, also means creativity for the native of Frankfurt.
He offers vegan gelato, sorbets with a maximum proportion of fruit and even ice cream for dogs. In 2018, the graduate master brewer fulfilled a dream with his own gelato manufacturing company in Berlin.
“I want to create a gelato culture and make the industry more lively,” said Sander. The “new gelato culture”: the best out of the simple Sander’s interpretation of a new gelato culture: additional spectacular varieties such as hemp gelato, the love of detail and the special aspect. “Customers are demanding individuality in the products,” he said knowingly.

In order to make fresh gelato available to guests within easy reach, he is relying on mobile solutions that he implemented together with Volker Beck, Managing Director of ROKA-Werk.
The company from Merenberg specialises in the construction and fitting out of food trucks, sales trailers and sales containers. “Mobile solutions enable gelatieri to go directly to people – for example at swimming lakes or town festivals,” stated the Managing Director. Sander is also continuing to work on his mobility concept.
In addition to his gelato bikes and sales trailers, there will also be a tricycle, i.e. an electric APE, in future. Mia Gelateria – the successful franchise concept Roman Schaller from Krumpendorf on Lake Wörth has carried out real pioneering work.
In 2014, he founded the first ice cream parlour chain with self-service in Germany under the name “Mia Gelateria”. He is currently the market leader in Germany with his concept. There are now eleven franchise branches, seven in Germany, two in Switzerland and two in France.
The franchise concept enables lateral entrants to fulfil their dream job as a gelatiere with their own ice cream parlour. Since the basic product for the gelato is delivered to the franchisees in liquid form, they only have to fill it in special ice cream machines.
“We produce our gelato base in Austria using fresh Alpine milk based on an original Italian recipe. First-rate Italian gelato is the centrepiece of Mia Gelateria,” said Schaller, who has been involved in franchising for 13 years. Only natural ingredients are used in the production process. Mia Gelateria does not have any finished products made of powder and all types of milk are lactose-free.
“Every guest can personally compose their gelato – the toppings represent other possible combinations,” said Schaller. “I came to GELATISSIMO with a sales trailer in 2018, but there is still very little interest in franchises among experts. Nevertheless, we will probably come back again in 2020. Alone due to its proximity to Italy and Austria, the trade fair venue is extremely important for our company!“

Gelato in a new design – look into the future?
Food designer and marketing expert David Marx is revolutionising the industry with his idea and is daring to try out unusual taste combinations.
His current best of recipe is iced watermelon soup: with wild Indian pepper, cold-pressed olive oil, yoghurt dumplings and a Parmesan chip, the entrepreneur wants to move from cracknel ice cream to gelato of the future. He gives his products futuristic shapes and shock freezes them with nitrogen – thanks to this method, his gelato does not contain any ice crystals.
“My objective is to bring new products onto the street and also enable people to experience the quality of star restaurants. We are working on avant-garde desserts which will be sold in corresponding dessert boutiques in future rather than in traditional ice cream parlours,” said Marx.
“The industry must reinvent itself, react more quickly to trends and play again with seasonality and regionalism.” His concept is successful – he now advise large customers such as Autostadt Wolfsburg or Häagen Dazs, moderates at international floor food shows and sells his products in the USA and China.