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rise in recent years with industrial chains that mimic craftsmen by focusing
attention on the ingredients and not on the skills) lies in the craftsman’s
ability to transform gelato into many different saleable products. The abil-
ity to make custom or unique flavors, single portions, cakes, popsicles,
biscuits, frozen desserts, cremolatas, mousses, Bavarian creams, puddings
etc. cannot be improvised or learned in just a few days. Whether it is sign-
ing up for specific courses held by makers of compound ingredients or
professional schools, or opening up one’s mind to contaminations from
chocolate makers, pastry chefs or restaurateurs, this is the most important
phase in the technical training of a modern gelato maker. This is what makes
him or her unique, enables him/her to stand out from the crowd, to compete
with industrial production. As some recent cases show, arguments over
what ingredients to use, or over the recipes and the quantities of compound Hand-made gelato
ingredients, drag down the level of discussion until everything looks
equivalent. is even more compli-
It is also vital to learn to communicate with the consumer, and the
enterprising gelato maker’s technical training has to include notions of cated than industrial
marketing and of sales about the structure and look of the parlor, the
product (it is so important to be able to tell its story), the service – each gelato.
and every detail is vital when the gelato maker comes into contact with the
consumer. Lack of communication skills and a rather undynamic approach
to the menu has certainly allowed industrial competitors into the market-
place. However attractive they might seem to the consumer, they will
never be able to compete with the uniqueness and unrepeatability of novices and for experts. By studying
manual production. But if that uniqueness is not expertly brought to the the product, its hygiene requirements,
imagination of the consumer (and not only to his palate), even the most its transformation and its sale with
outstanding product is likely to be underestimated and trivialized. experts who have studied hand-
For all of these reasons, training and education for a craftsman must made gelato in infinite detail is with-
be ongoing and continuous and all AIIPA member companies have their out doubt the best way of getting the
own training schools that deal with these and other issues both for right tools for the marketplace

www.italiangelato.info
the website is sponsored by the italian associa-
tion of food indutries (gelato ingredients).

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