BBC’s The One Show paid a visit to the Ice Cream Alliance Awards and spoke to some of Machinery World’s customers about their winning ice entries.
BBC’s The One Show visit the ICA Awards
Category: Uncategorised
Ice-cream meltdown
With temperatures exceeding 30C this week in the UK, it’s sent the British public into ice-cream meltdown, with retailers reporting a sales increase of over one hundred per cent on this time in 2017.
The Met Office have issued a health warning urging people to take precautions against sunburn, dehydration and heatstroke, but it appears many people are taking some extra cooling off steps – by stocking up our freezers with ice creams and other frozen deserts.
At Waitrose, recent sales have broken all previous records.
“Last week was our biggest ever week of ice-cream sales,” says Jess Hughes, a senior PR manager for the supermarket. Summer sales of their ice cream tubs have risen by 100 per cent compared to 2017, while sales of children’s ice lollies have shot up by 175 per cent.
Surprisingly, ‘adult’ ice lollies have topped the frozen deserts charts at the retailer, with an increase in sales of 188 per cent.
Over at Sainsbury’s, the figures around ice-cream sales have also soared, with them announcing an increase of 71 per cent in sales of both hand-held ice-creams and sharing tubs week-on-week.
If you’re struggling to cope with production, or need machinery servicing, give us a call for some expert advice or take a look at our used ice cream machinery or our new ice cream machinery that we have in stock today that can increase your productivity.
New video gallery
We’ve added a brand new section to our website showcasing all of our machine videos we take.
Video is a fantastic way of showing machinery in action and can often negate the need to view first hand, especially when our customers span the entire world. As such, the practicalities of being able to review machinery we have for sale at your desk or on your mobile makes this a useful resource.
Featuring all our major dairy machinery brands including Alfa Laval, APV Gaulin, Benhill, Carpigiani, Cattabriga, GEA Wetfalia, Gram, Promag, ROKK, Seital SPX, Stephan, Technogel, Tecnofreeze and Tetra Pak, all of our videos show the actual machines for sale, often in use too.
See the video gallery here
You can also see all of these videos on our Youtube channel here.
For more information on any of our used dairy and processing machines, just get in touch.
Ice Cream that’s 500 times hotter than Tabasco
A Glasgow cafe wants to make Valentine’s Day especially hot and heavy.
The Aldwych Cafe claims its special gelato acts as an intense aphrodisiac. However, the cold treat is so hot lovers are asked to sign a waiver prior to licking it.
The Scottish cafe’s concoction is billed as one of the spiciest ice creams in the world. With a Scoville rating of close to 1.47 million, Aldwych’s “Respiro Del Diavolo” (Devil’s Breath) gelato is roughly 300 times hotter than a jalapeno.
As a result, Aldwych requires brave creamery connoisseurs to be at least 18 years old before they sample the red, creamy, and sometimes painful treat. A required waiver informs clients they risk “personal injury, illness and possible loss of life” if they consume the Devil’s Breath.
According to the New York Post, Lee Bandoni, the brother of the Cafe’s owner, said the secret dish started in Italy back in 1936.
“There was a place called Devils Bridge and with that, the Italian ice cream families used to meet up once a year and discuss how the year went for them,” he said.
“At that point, if there were any men that showed bravery then they would eat this ice cream. So, because of the Devils Bridge, they called this the Breath of the Devil.”
Cafe employees are required to wear gloves when handling the eye-watering ice cream.
A single scoop costs roughly £2.50.
A lot of Italian guys go and have a romantic evening with their girlfriends or wives and they will have some (of) this ice cream because it is a well-known fact that chili is an aphrodisiac and it is nice with a glass of wine bubbling in your mouth,” Bandoni added, according to the Post.
Few peppers – the Carolina Reaper, Ghost Pepper and Trinidad Scorpion, to name a few – have Scoville scale ratings greater than 1 million.
ICA Expo in Harrogate
Come and meet the team from Machinery World, ROKK and Dairy Bits on Stand 32 at the ICA Expo in Harrogate!
Ice Cream Expo is a unique expo showcasing a huge assortment of ice cream varieties together with its equipment and supplies. This show provides a unique forum for suppliers, retailers, caterers and manufacturers of ice cream products. The show aims to encourage and support the production, vending and consumption of premium quality ice creams and other frozen treats. Ice Cream Expo also showcases the various types of machinery and equipment’s utilized by the ice cream industry.
The event enjoys massive popularity among all the sections of the society and within all age groups. The event provides the ideal opportunity to business to build brand images, create and optimize business opportunities and launch new products.
Opening Times
Tuesday 13th February
10.00am – 5.00pm (last entry 4.30pm)
10.00am – 5.00pm (last entry 4.30pm)
Wednesday 14th February
10.00am – 5.00pm (last entry 4.30pm)
Thursday 15th February
10.00am – 3.00pm (last entry 2.30pm)
A recipe for success
Frederick’s Ice Cream of Chorley, Lancashire has been making delicious ice cream to a traditional Italian family recipe for over 100 years – but the company has recently added a new ingredient or two to their mix.
The Federici family, now in their fourth generation of ice cream expertise, have invested in their brand new Cattabriga Multifreeze 18 Pro Batch Freezer and ROKK RIF1500 ingredients feeder, and are already noticing the difference.
“We chose these two machines from Machinery World’s wide range because they are not only reliable but also extremely energy efficient, which is very important to us,” explains Donna Townson, a third generation Federici who runs the business with her parents Tony and Liz, brother Louis and sister Roseanne, “but they are also so versatile and easy to use, enabling us to add ingredients in a whole range of different ways”.
Another unexpected benefit was the texture of the ice cream, as Louis, who runs the production side of the business, explains:
“Cattabriga are the Ferrari of batch freezers, so we knew the technology would be top of the range and give us so much production flexibility and thus efficiency,” he says, “but we were surprised – and delighted – with how much smoother the ice cream is – it’s the perfect texture for our range of luxury ice creams”.
There certainly is a range to be proud of: Frederick’s have over 100 delicious handmade flavours in stock at any time, and more than 200 recipes to choose from, each made using a blend of the highest quality natural ingredients combined with Italian passion and expertise.
The ROKK ingredients feeder enables the family to add inclusions such as honeycomb, Oreo cookie pieces, chocolate chips and fruit preparations to the ice cream as it comes out of the continuous freezer, which is invaluable for their wholesale customers as Donna explains:
“Many of our hotel, garden centre, restaurant, dessert bar and even wedding customers like to offer bespoke flavours, designed perhaps to complement a specific menu, season or celebration. Our new equipment – and on-site labelling facilities – mean we can produce small, high quality batches quickly and efficiently.”
So is the relationship with Machinery World another new recipe for Frederick’s?
“Not at all,” laughs Donna: “Machinery World are a tried and tested part of our history, just like our ingredients”
The relationship began about six years ago, when they traded in two small machines for a second-hand continuous freezer which had been refurbished to the highest standard by Machinery World’s in-house expert engineers. The team continue to service the machine, ensuring it never misses a beat.
“We love working with Machinery World,” says Donna. “They really understand our business and are extremely knowledgeable, with superb after sales service. They are also hugely versatile: we were able to trade-in one of our older machines, which made it possible for us to afford the new, top of the class machinery we really wanted”.
Whilst the two latest additions to the Frederick’s mix feature the latest technology, it is the way in which the family combine traditional recipes, luxury ingredients and age old ice cream expertise with the use of modern machinery that the fourth Federici generation, Emma and Amy are learning, ensuring every lick will continue to taste unbelievably delicious for years to come.
Unilever fined €60m for market abuse
Italy’s antitrust agency said on Wednesday it had fined Unilever’s Italian unit more than €60m (£53m) for abusing its dominant position in the country’s ice cream market.
It said Unilever had abused its position in single-wrapped so-called impulse ice creams, intended for immediate consumption, which it sells through its “Algida” brand.
The local unit of the world’s biggest ice cream maker said in a statement it rejected the agency’s conclusion and would appeal.
Italian authorities started the probe in 2013 when a small producer of organic fruit lollies called La Bomba accused Unilever of forcing local retailers not to sell its popsicles.
La Bomba, based in the seaside town of Rimini, said Unilever had struck deals with operators of beach resort, bars and campsites to exclusively sell the bigger firm’s ice creams.
La Bomba makes less than €1m a year.
Italians ate €5.15bn-worth of ice cream in 2015, according to the antitrust agency, and sales of individually-wrapped treats were worth €780m.
“The market for ice cream (to be consumed) outside the home is a highly competitive one in which artisan and industrial, bulk and packaged products compete for the consumer’s attention in a fragmented landscape that is like no other in Europe,” Unilever said.
Selling the Magnum, Carte d‘Or and Cornetto ice cream brands as well as other food, home and personal care goods, Unilever makes around €1.4bn a year in Italy.
Unilever can appeal the ruling at a regional court.
Ice cream for breakfast can make you more intelligent
A scoop of ice cream for breakfast can provide an unexpected brain boost, a Japanese scientist has found.
Subjects in an experiment carried out by Yoshihiko Koga, a professor at Kyorin University in Tokyo, had to eat three spoonfuls of ice cream first thing in the morning.
They then had to use a computer to complete a number of mental exercises, according to Excite News.
Professor Koga found the people who had eaten ice cream had faster reaction times and were better at processing information than a separate group that hadn’t had any breakfast.
Their brain waves were also measured during the experiment by Professor Koga, who reported an increase in alpha waves – associated with concentration, relaxation and mental co-ordination – in the group who had eaten the ice cream.
Professor Koga then tried the same experiment with cold water to check if the ice cream’s temperature was simply shocking the subjects awake.
But while people who had drunk the cold water did show some level of increased mental performance and alertness, the effect was not as pronounced as with the ice cream.
The UK’s most expensive ice cream
Selfridges has collaborated with Snowflake Luxury Gelato to create an extravagant take on the classic summer time treat – the original 99 chocolate
Only theirs is a sumptuous £99 “Gelato Flake” made by Snowflake’s skilled Maestro Gelatiere where the traditional wafer cone, prepared by hand, is dipped in organic Madagascan chocolate and covered in individually-placed gold pearls.
There are different treats inside the cone: rare Madagascan chocolate, caramelised pecans, two massive gelato spheres – one of many, ginger and passion fruit and one of rich dark chocolate and a luxury Belgian white chocolate truffle filled with salted caramel sauce. There’s also salted caramel soft serve gelato made with exquisite Persian Blue Salt.
And to top this decadent treat: raspberry sorbetto macaroon decorated with a white chocolate glaze, Persian sea salt and edible diamonds; a gold leaf-coated chocolate flake; a pipette full of mango, ginger and passion fruit sauce; gold chocolate spoon; and finished off with a glistening piece of edible gold leaf.
Also known as the Billionaire’s Soft Serve it takes four and a half hours to make each and every delicious component of this luxurious gargantuan dessert.
Scientists confront the dairy v health myths
The evidence base on milk and dairy and its relationship with lifelong health has shifted significantly over the past decade, according to leading nutritionists.
Speaking at ‘Dairy & Health: The Evidence Explained’ in London, nutritionists confronted the milk myths and outlined the positive role that milk and dairy foods can play with regards to heart health, type 2 diabetes, obesity and healthy ageing.
Delegates were told that despite its saturated fat content, milk and dairy foods have shown no significant association with the risk of developing heart disease or type 2 diabetes. Some studies have even shown protective effects.
Nutritionists also outlined that, when consumed as part of a balanced diet, milk and dairy has no negative effects on body weight or body fatness, and may actually help to break the obesity cycle.
Professor Kevin Whelan, professor of dietetics at King’s College London, said: “Milk and dairy foods are often targeted in public health campaigns to tackle obesity, but the latest research challenges this.
“For example, we now know that body weight and fatness is not associated with children who consume higher than average amounts of dairy, including those who drink whole milk as opposed to low-fat products. We also have seen that in adults, consuming dairy as part of a calorie restricted diet can actually aid body fat loss.
“The protein in dairy may help in making us feel full and delay our desire to eat, and the calcium may also reduce the amount of fat that is absorbed in the gut.”
The nutritionists outlined that dietary protein, particularly the type of protein found in dairy, is important for ageing muscles, and the latest scientific evidence on saturated fat, dairy, heart disease and type 2 diabetes was also presented.
Professor Ian Givens, professor of food chain nutrition at the University of Reading, said: “It is often thought that milk and dairy, due to their saturated fat content, can play a part in developing health problems such as cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes, but recent studies have shown that’s not the case.”
Dr Anne Mullen, director of nutrition at The Dairy Council, added: “Milk and dairy matters at all stages of life and can help in addressing a number of public health concerns. Whether it’s the heart, type 2 diabetes, obesity or ageing healthily that is of concern, dairy can play an important role in your lifelong health.
“The role of milk and dairy foods in leading a healthy balanced diet is all too often misunderstood, and it’s important we clear up the confusion and confront the myths. The evidence on milk and dairy is well-substantiated, and it’s gathering strength.”
The seminar was held at the Wellcome Collection in London. The conference is part of a month-long roadshow series organised by The Dairy Council and will be held in cities across the UK throughout June to provide the latest evidence-based information for health writers and health professionals. All seminars in this series are CPD endorsed by The Association for Nutrition and have been backed by AHDB Dairy.
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