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Ice Cream & Artisan Food Show 2024
Not even snow could stop the buzz surrounding this year’s Ice Cream & Artisan Food Show at the Yorkshire Event Centre in Harrogate from the 6th-8th February. Before the snow could melt outside, visitors and exhibitors were assured of a friendly Nork Yorkshire welcome at this dedicated ice cream & artisan food expo.
Over 2,500 trade industry professionals attended this calendar event to source new and exciting brands, listen to industry talks and congratulate the winners at the National Ice Cream Competition. The event is run by the Ice Cream Alliance: a specialist trade association with a history spanning 76 years and attracted industry big players from Whitby Morrison, Antonelli and Froneri. From Italian-style gelato, sundaes, to traditional whipped cream cones, there was an ice cream for everyone.
It should come as no surprise that the ice cream sector is valued at £1.7 billion and with ice cream parlours seeing an annual 20% growth, it seems that the UK public just can’t get enough of ice cream.
Gastro-physicist Józef Youssef revealed the ‘Happy Science’ behind ice creams: the protein found in milk (tryptophan) can aid dopamine production and increase serotonin, as well as invoking nostalgia of happy childhood memories. Seven in ten adults freely state that ice cream is their favourite dessert and with this mind, entrepreneurs from across the sector descended on the Ice Cream & Artisan Food Show to share tactics, sign books and perform live demos.
The expo is perfectly timed, just before the start of the busy ice cream season and allows key decision makers and buyers to meet exciting new suppliers. The average order placed at the show is £3,200 and gives newcomers the opportunity to break into an exciting new sector.
Royal Conversions Specialist Vehicles: The Doncasterbased company makes fully-operational beautiful, customised ice cream and catering vans, complete with livery, new windows, interior shelves, installed gelmatics for perfect ice cream, new windows and even air con on the roof for hot summer days! The hard-working team parked their ice cream at the show, complete with their own golden crown to show off their perfect ‘Royal Conversions!’ https://www.facebook.com/people/ROYAL-Conversion/100063629645695
Nic Ice: As part of the Orkla Group, NIC has a large network of food, drink and packaging suppliers across Europe and further afield. NIC is a marketleading developer and innovator across three top brands: Caterlink, Gortrush and Marcantonio.
Discover an exciting range of ice cream cones, wafers, soft serve ice cream, ice cream machinery, toppings, sauces, sprinkles through to packaging.https://www.nicice.co.uk/en-gb
Peppered Palette Ltd: The Lancaster family-owned business lovingly supplies a unique line of sweet and spicy sauces. The original Toad Sweat hot dessert sauce was used as an ice cream topper to start with but has now diversified into savoury dishes too. The Guild of Fine Food Member was a huge hit at this year’s show, with visitors loving the gluten-free, vegan-friendly, natural ingredients of flavours such as: Kickin’ Key Lime, and Zingin’ Cranberry.https://www.pepperedpalette.com
Congratulations to all our Top Exhibitors and a special mention to Antonelli, whose chairman Roland Antonelli won the Lifetime Achievement Award for dedicated service to the ice cream industry.
