Ice cream firm tastes success
Porrelli scoops two prestige awards
Paisley firm Porrelli has bagged a brace of awards for its desserts at the prestigious National Ice Cream Competition.
The family business took home the silver challenge cup for its top-rated mango sorbet and a bronze medal for its classic vanilla gelato.
The local business has been making ices for almost a century and has been recognised as one of the best makers in the country.
Owner Enzo Durante says the success is down to the secret recipes penned by his grandfather Gerardo back in 1925.
He told the Paisley Daily Express: “We use the best ingredients including Scottish double cream in our luxury Italian ice creams to maintain the same high quality that the business was founded on.
“But we also believe in innovation and we make more than 70 different flavours of ice cream as well as a huge range of associated products.
“It is particularly pleasing to gain recognition by winning the coveted silver challenge cup for our mango sorbet as this is a relatively new product line which we have developed using the finest fresh fruit.”
The competition is organised by the Ice Cream Alliance, the trade body for the UK’s £1bn industry, and recognises the best treats in the UK.
Por relli supplies leading supermarkets, hotels and restaurants from its Lacy Street factory.
A refit in 2008 means it now makes more than one million litres of awardwinning ice cream every year and provides jobs for 18 people.
The company is run by Enzo Durante, his wife, Ines and daughter Serena, who use the same traditional ingredients passed down through the family for generations.
Zelica Carr, chief executive of the Ice Cream Alliance, hailed the victory.
She said: “Porrelli has grown to become one of Scotland’s best loved ice cream makers.
“The family’s products are of the highest quality and they fully deserve this national recognition.”
The family name has become synonymous with the town since Gerardo first started selling his homemade creation more than 90 years ago.
It all started from humble beginnings to become one of Scotland’s favourite treats.
Gerardo uprooted from San Biago, in southern Italy, in 1925 and moved with his family to Scotland.
He chose to settle in Paisley, where the home of Porrelli ice cream remains in Lacy Street.