Artisanal Gelato

Artisanal ice cream is the right opportunity to amaze your customers at the table. Served at the end of the meal, it will give that extra touch that will distinguish your cuisine from the competition.

The world of catering is a growing sector but also a very competitive one. Luckily, there is a way to differentiate yourself from all the other players, and that is to offer your customers products or services that are always new, or that contain a recognition brand.

So, don't ask yourself what this discussion has to do with artisanal ice cream, but read our advice on how to use it to differentiate yourself!

Artisanal ice creams: why integrate them into your production

When we talk about artisanal ice cream, especially in Italy, the debate opens. On the one hand it is true that there is a lot of demand to open chains of artisanal ice cream shops with extremely convenient investments, and here doubt creeps in on its actual veracity.

On the other hand, it would be interesting to delve deeper into the reason for such high demand. Whether we are talking about trends as many of them follow one another over time or not, the reality of the facts is that if you can integrate it into your restaurant, there are all the conditions for a good return on investment.

How to recognize an artisanal ice cream

Not all customers are the same, true, and not all are connoisseurs. Yet we must never let our guard down, because there are now plenty of tools to recognize a fake. It will therefore be of fundamental importance to integrate artisanal ice cream into your production chain only if you are truly equipped to support it, or have the will to do so.

But speaking of craftsmanship, what does artisanal ice cream really mean?

Even in the absence of legislation that legally protects it, we can summarize its characteristics as follows. An ice cream obtained from excellent quality raw materials, fresh and processed in a production laboratory (bye bye industry). The standard procedure requires the mixture to be worked until a creamy mixture is obtained and quickly frozen because it needs to incorporate a certain amount of air (around 25-30%).

In addition to the issue of processing itself, also take into account that all the artisanal ice cream you produce that day will have to be consumed that same day, in case of excess, do not serve it the next day, or it will taste like reheated soup which no one likes!

A characteristic of craftsmanship is in fact the absence of industrial preservatives; obviously, if the product in this sense gains in terms of taste and quality, it is also true that it has rather tight consumption times. By choosing to integrate artisanal ice cream into the menu card, you will also have to be aware of this factor, and do an internal analysis to honestly understand if it is sustainable.

Beware of intolerances and/or different diets

We are not here to judge what is right and what is not; it's a question of possibility. Of course, there are objective advantages to this type of offer compared to pre-packaged products. You will be able to guarantee your customers a greater degree of security regarding the origin and quality of the raw materials used, but also the peace of mind of enjoying an allergen-proof product.

Food allergies and intolerances are no joke. The risks are great on both sides, and another chapter opens. To truly satisfy all customer needs, don't forget to pay attention to materials that could cause allergies of any kind, and this means not just finding taste alternatives, but also using the production environments to manage multiple blends.

And the same argument is valid not only with regard to the issue of allergies, but also for plant-based or vegan food choices.In short, being able to fit together all these factors is hard, but what a satisfaction afterwards when you have retained your customers!

Diversify the taste of your homemade ice cream

If you thought that producing artisanal ice cream was 'good first time' you were wrong; as well as in the kitchen, and in general for everything concerning the various courses, it takes creativity to create, mix, test, combine particular flavors and have the patience to understand what works and what doesn't. Cooking is also an art form, and as such requires continuous experimentation.

Therefore, your homemade ice cream wrapper cannot contain just one or two flavours; better if you can fit a few more. Of course, based on everything discussed so far, quality beats quantity 10 to 0. We're not telling you to exaggerate, but to offer the right size to the customer to make him understand that he has a range of choices available to him that is wide enough to make him want to try them all, but also narrow enough to convey to him the quality of a product, let's call it daily.

Traditional craftsmen VS new craftsmen

Ok, we are perfectly aware that the preparation of artisanal ice cream as tradition would have it is rare nowadays; on the other hand, we have just listed what the basic rules are.

We must also take into account the fact that in today's society there is very little space for the artisans of the past, according to which ice cream had to be prepared without the addition of various flavorings or emulsifiers, but using only fresh fruit or in any case local DOP products, produced at zero km.

Today all this has not completely vanished, but it does not correspond to the majority of cases. However, there are some good compromises that the so-called new craftsmen have reached.

We are talking about neutral preparation, which is a semi-finished product deriving from natural thickeners and emulsifiers of food fats. By mixing these elements together with the standard raw materials (milk, cream, water), the first processing phase is reached, to which the final ingredient (whether chocolate, hazelnut, coffee) will be added at a later stage.

We are talking about a good compromise because, always taking into account the rules also in terms of allergies, the ingredients that are added to the neutral preparation are the same that an old craftsman would have added to his ice cream.

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Conclusions

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Continue in the comments by explaining what you think of artisanal ice cream and why you integrated it or want to integrate it into your menu!