Interview with Paolo Brunelli
Paolo Brunelli is an award-winning master ice cream maker from the Marches who can boast numerous and coveted awards in his palmares, including the maximum score from Gambero Rosso (3 cones, the only brand in his region) in the Gelaterie d’Italia guide as well as national recognition for the best chocolate ice cream and, for two consecutive years, the prize for the best Italian ice cream shop.
A rigorous professional, with a marked capacity for innovation and a great flair for quality raw materials, for years he has dedicated himself to enhancing ice cream as a product of excellence capable of breaking the mold of seasonality, renewing the proposal and keeping his laboratory active all year round.
And the clientele seems to have understood and appreciated Paolo’s commitment to focusing on ice cream again this winter. He happily succeeded by making use of his ability to transform and work raw materials, creating new and inviting flavors thanks to new Christmas-inspired combinations. A return to ice cream, to the origins of its proposal, albeit in the cold season, supporting in such a particular year the product from which its professional history started.
Its stores are three, all in the province of Ancona: in addition to the enocioccogelateria in the historic center of Agugliano, there are the Senigallia branch and Combo, a brand new location in Marzocca di Senigallia, a contemporary combination of ice cream, pastry and chocolate .
Ice cream in winter: how did the idea of developing this proposal come about by thinking of new themed flavours?
It is an idea that we have strongly sought. Almost a necessary choice, after the opening of our first store in Senigallia: a place dedicated only to ice cream, to be kept open all year round. Compared to the past, in fact, the scenario has changed and it is no longer possible to bear the burden of bureaucracy with a shop open only in the summer months. Well aware of the fact that in the winter the demand for ice cream from customers drops drastically and inevitably, we have developed a different offer for the colder months. So here is ice cream in winter, with the creations designed for this season.
What flavors do you offer in particular?
For the first time this year we offer a “Christmas Card” with the specialties of the moment. We have devised some particular flavours, dedicated precisely to the festivities, which recall the sweets of the Christmas tradition, evoking their flavours, aromas and characteristic notes. Among these we find, for example, Pandoro, Crema di Natale, Gingerbread, Panforte, Torroncino and Fior di Legno, a brand new fior di latte that recalls the scent of the fireplace. Among the flavors there is no panettone, instead the protagonist of a very popular ice cream cake.
How are the first feedbacks with customers?
The results are very good, I must say: already in recent years we have noticed that, during the holiday season, customers are happy to opt for ice cream cakes and frozen desserts, perhaps tired of the usual leavened desserts. Now he is also showing interest in the new ice cream flavours.
How does it preserve the flavors in the gelato shop? Do you use pozzetti or do you put the flavors in jars and display them inside your vertical display cases?
We have adopted both types of display. For take away we use pozzetti and tubs for ice cream to be served in a cone or cup. Furthermore, for years we have been using the lines of vertical display cases in which, in addition to cakes, we display ice cream in jars, other alternative versions such as ice cream on a stick or with biscuits, and semifreddos.
How do you highlight these new Christmas flavors in your display?
In this period of the year, in the carapine there are not the canonical 20 flavors but only the Christmas ones. We have chosen to focus heavily on the proposal contained in the Christmas Card. At the same time, however, the vertical display cases allow us to continue to offer other flavours, but in jars. In this way the ice cream is kept in ideal conditions from an aesthetic, sensorial and gustatory point of view.
How do you highlight these new Christmas flavors in your display?
In this period of the year, in the carapine there are not the canonical 20 flavors but only the Christmas ones. We have chosen to focus heavily on the proposal contained in the Christmas Card. At the same time, however, the vertical display cases allow us to continue to offer other flavours, but in jars. In this way the ice cream is kept in ideal conditions from an aesthetic, sensorial and gustatory point of view.
So, what do you think are the ideal characteristics of the showcases for optimal exposure, taking into account the needs of the customer and the gelato maker?
As far as we are concerned, we are very satisfied with the vertical display cases, which are very important to us: thanks to this solution we are able to better manage the offer for the winter period, diversifying the products on display. I wouldn’t open a new ice cream parlor without a vertical display, that would be unthinkable for me.
These refrigerated display cases have a temperature of -18° / -20°, which ensures that the ice cream is kept better and undergoes less degradation than the traditional carapina (which has a temperature of -12°), and this feature is essential for canned ice cream, which has a longer shelf life, naturally without ever changing the quality of the product.
How did you insert these showcases in the shop? What results have you already noticed?
In the shop, we have chosen a strategic location, which is visually very appealing: the windows are positioned at eye level, at the entrance and exit of the premises.
On a commercial level, they have guaranteed us a turning point: with the right exposure, we have recorded an increase in sales of showcase products, with an increase from 5% to 15%. In our case this segment is expanding considerably since we started working like this.