Morelli's Gelato is a producer and retailer of

ice cream Ice cream is a sweetened frozen food typically eaten as a snack or dessert. It may be made from milk or cream and is flavoured with a sweetener, either sugar or an alternative, and a spice, such as cocoa or vanilla, or with fruit such as str ...

. The company was founded in 1907 by Giuseppe Morelli. Initially he sold ice cream from a bicycle with his son Mario. As the business grew, an

ice cream van An ice cream van (British) or ice cream truck (North American) is a commercial vehicle that serves as a mobile retail outlet for ice cream, usually during the spring and summer. Ice cream vans are often seen parked at public events, or near ...

was used. In 1932, an

ice cream parlour Ice cream parlors (American English) or ice cream parlours (British English) are places that sell ice cream, gelato, sorbet, and/or frozen yogurt to consumers. Ice cream is typically sold as regular ice cream (also called hard-packed or hard se ...

was opened on the seafront of the

seaside resort A seaside resort is a resort town, town, village, or hotel that serves as a Resort, vacation resort and is located on a coast. Sometimes the concept includes an aspect of official accreditation based on the satisfaction of certain requirements, suc ...

Broadstairs Broadstairs is a coastal town on the Isle of Thanet in the Thanet district of east Kent, England, about east of London. It is part of the civil parish of Broadstairs and St Peter's, which includes St Peter's, and had a population in 2011 of ...

. The company now has several branches which included a flagship concession in Harrods Food Hall and more recently, the historic

Covent Garden Covent Garden is a district in London, on the eastern fringes of the West End, between St Martin's Lane and Drury Lane. It is associated with the former fruit-and-vegetable market in the central square, now a popular shopping and tourist si ...

(July 2015),
"Marka acquires master franchise for luxury ice cream brand, Morelli’s Gelato"
',
The Franchise Magazine
' market building and

Portobello Road Portobello Road is a street in the Notting Hill district of the Royal Borough of Kensington and Chelsea in west London. It runs almost the length of Notting Hill from south to north, roughly parallel with Ladbroke Grove. On Saturdays it is ...

as well as global franchises in

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(

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, JBR and

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Kuwait Kuwait (; ar, الكويت ', or ), officially the State of Kuwait ( ar, دولة الكويت '), is a country in Western Asia. It is situated in the northern edge of Eastern Arabia at the tip of the Persian Gulf, bordering Iraq to the nort ...

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(Mall of Dhahran),

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, ( Rockwell and

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(Bangsar),

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(Saburtalo),

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(Pont Gué Gué) and the Café de Paris, Monte Carlo. Morelli's have opened a summer pop-up at the vintage Dreamland Theme Park. In addition to luxury gelato which is produced fresh every day, in every store, Morelli's gelato also serve their own blend of Kilimanjaro coffee and their signature, elaborate, retro sundaes. Morelli's has also featured many times in TV/Films, such as Mary Berry, BBC's The One Show and The Lady in the Van. It has also been voted No1 of the 5 Best Ice Cream parlours in the UK by the Telegraph, Top 10 by The Times, and Stylist magazine, as well as some of the best gelato in London and the best ice cream in Britain by Conde Nast Traveller.

History

The Morelli family arrived in the UK from the village of

Casalattico Casalattico (Campanian: ) is a ''comune'' (municipality) in the Province of Frosinone in the Italian region of Lazio. The village is located about southeast of Rome and about east of Frosinone. It is home to a summer Irish festival celebrating ...

, Italy, in 1907. Soon after Mario Morelli began making ice cream, which he sold from a bicycle in Scotland and Northern Ireland. In 1932 Morelli opened an ice cream parlour and cappuccino bar on the seafront in Broadstairs, Kent. The ice cream parlour continues to serve visitors to Broadstairs today. After Mario Morelli's retirement the business was taken over by his son Giuseppe Morelli in 1954. He opened a second parlour/espresso bar in Broadstairs in 1955. In 1957 he rebuilt the Broadstairs ice cream parlour, which was the first of its kind in the UK selling over 20 flavours of ice cream. In 1972 the two ice cream parlours in Broadstairs were taken over by Giuseppe's eldest Son, Marino Morelli. Each generation has contributed to the development of the business. Marino Morelli, while continuing the Gelato business, also focused on building what was at the time the biggest private coffee chain in the UK (with over 30 units), a bakery and sandwich factory. The parlour served more than 20 flavours, made in front of the customer and a variety of ice cream sundaes, which are still produced in Broadstairs, London and the many franchised units around the world. Heading the 5th generation family business, Marino's daughter Bibi Morelli joined Morelli's Gelato in 2003 and took over fully in 2005, on her father's retirement. She has since built the international franchise arm of the business which has recently seen the sale of Marka PJSC, a retail start up listed on the Dubai Stock Exchange, of the UAE franchise operations of Morelli's Gelato for US$8.4million, with plans to expand by opening 17 additional Morelli's gelato stores in the MENA region by 2020.Sarah Algethami, (8 July 2015), "Marka acquires Morelli’s Gelato", Gulf News

Current Morelli’s Gelato Units

*Broadstairs, UK 1932 (historic flagship store) *Harrods, UK, (2003–2013) *Selfridge's UK, (2006–2010) *The Avenue, Kuwait, 2007 *Café de Paris, Monaco, 2008 *Dubai Mall, UAE, 2009 *Saburtab, Tbilisi, 2011 *Mall of Dhahran, Saudi Arabia, 2011 *Bahrain City Centre, Bahrain, 2012 *Rockwell, Manila, 2012 *Zaguan Bakery, Dallas, 2012 *ShangriLa Mall, Manila, 2013 *JBR, Dubai, 2014 *Bangsar Shopping Centre, Malaysia, 2014 *Covent Garden, London, 2014 *Mall of Emirates, Dubai, 2015 *Pont de Guegue, Libreville, 2015 *Portobello Road, London, 2016 *Empire Subang, Kuala Lumpur, 2016

New Openings in 2016

*Qatar, Mall of Qatar, Q3 *Mexico City, Q3 *Dalma Mall, Abu Dhabi, Q3

References

External links

{{Commons category-inline, Morelli's Food and drink companies established in 1907 Ice cream brands Ice cream parlors Companies based in Kent 1907 establishments in Scotland