Award-winning Italian ice-cream manufacturer Luca Naldoni prides himself on introducing the European love of gelato to the Perth lifestyle. Formerly a head chef with international experience, Mr Naldoni put restaurants on ice and decided to take a gigantic leap into starting his own business. With no formal corporate business training and limited English, Mr Naldoni came to Australia with a dream, and has since tasted sweet success. The biggest business hurdle he overcame initially was trying to establish his company in an already saturated ice-cream market. Perth is in the middle of a “healthy lifestyle” epidemic and Mr Naldoni says Il Gelato’s products can fit into that category. His gelato is 50 per cent lower in fat that standard ice-cream and his sorbets are 99 per cent fat free. No expense is spared to source the finest fresh ingredients, including fruit and Western Australian milk. Il Gelato’s ‘ferrero’ flavour scooped the sole gold medal at the 2005 Perth Royal Show for the dairy products category, while Mr Naldoni’s unique ‘choc chilli’ flavour won rave reviews and a first place at the recent Northbridge Food Festival.
