At the 2024 Oustanding Food Producer Awards Island Gelato was proud to take home gold, silver and bronze awards for various gelato flavours. We were also proud to take home an award for Oustanding Maker of the Year!
Following this win as part of their Meet Your Maker series, the Oustanding Food Producers talked to Island Gelato’s owner & founder Ana Schwarz on the Island Gelato journey from humble beginnings to now and beyond.
While the first couple of years were challenging, things moved quickly for Ana and the team. Soon enough they outgrew their kitchen and moved into the Auckland ferry building. Ana says that although the start was tricky to navigate, her culinary background helped get things off the ground. “It feels like you’ve got to master and perfect the craft, but I think in terms of the basis of things, having a chef background helped because you think about gelato in terms of balance and textures.”
– Ana Schwarz