A West Country gelato company, which has a popular bar in the centre of Bath has scooped a national award, just two years after launching the business.
Swoon Gelato, which has bars in Kingsmead Square, Bath and College Green, Bristol won the open flavour trophy in the National Ice Cream competition for the quality of its hazelnut gelato.
The competition is run by the Ice Cream Alliance – the trade body for the UK’s £1bn ice cream sector- and is regarded as the Oscars of the ice cream industry.
Swoon co-founder Pat Powell said: “We are absolutely over the moon, and I’d like to give a big thank you to the Swoon Team who create the flavours.”
She believed the bar’s success would come as no surprise to its growing number of fans, whom it dubs ‘Swoonatics’ and includes many students from nearby Bath University.
She said only the best ingredients were used in making the gelato, from Somerset milk to hazelnuts sourced from the finest growing area in Piedmonte in North West Italy.
“Gelato typically has 50 per cent less fat than traditional ice cream but it tastes much creamier,” she said.
She said the first Swoon bar opened in Bristol two years ago, with Bath being its second outlet.
It offered 11 regular flavours but also ran a poll on Twitter each month asking fans to choose their favourite flavour out of four, with the one which scored the most votes being created by the chefs for the following month.
ICA Chief executive Zelica Carr said: “Swoon deserves congratulations for winning such a prestigious award only two years after it was launched, in the face of some very tough competition.”
