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Seventy years after it began making gelato in an ice cream parlour near Florence, Sammontana Italia is still winning awards for its high-quality products

In 2018, Sammontana Italia, the leading producer of ice cream in Italy, was awarded “Product of the Year 2018” for its new Amando ice cream. A full-flavoured lactose-free ice cream based on almond milk, Amondo encompasses all of Sammontana’s experience and ability to innovate and meet evolving consumer demands.

An all-Italian novelty from the company that had already in 2017 been awarded recognition for its NonBitere stick, Amando’s secret is almond - a natural ingredient, which is rich in vitamins, minerals and vegetable proteins, with energising and antioxidant properties. It is, the company claims, a product that perfectly incorporates the vital work that the Sammontana Research and Development department carries out every day. A new taste experience that meets the nutritional needs of consumers without forgetting the goodness and the luxurious taste of the product.

Seventy years of Italian quality

The story of Sammontana began with an artisanal ice-cream parlour in the suburbs of Empoli, a town south-west of Florence, more than 70 years ago. Today Sammontana is the largest Italian gelato company and also leads the field in the busy frozen-desserts sector in Italy. The history of the company has been studded with market successes and achievements in terms of innovation, from Barattolino Sammontana to Stecco Ducale and from Coppa Oro to the Cinque Stelle cone range. In recent years these highly successful lines have been joined by products created specifically for figure-and-healthconscious customers with light natural ingredients, such as Fruttiamo, a product derived 100 per cent from plants which contains lots of delicious fruit, and Amando, the tasty gelato made from dairy-free gluten-free almond milk.

Continuing investment

Sammontana in 2020 remains a wholly owned Italian company, employing more than 1,000 people. Its headquarters are still located in in Empoli and it operates four other production sites, all located in Italy, as well as an avant-garde logistics centre in Montelupo, a commune in Florence metropolitan area.

Sammontana’s largest facility, in Empoli, has recently been equipped with a latest generation cone line and an entirely robotic tray line. Its production site in Verona was completely renovated in 2013 and now houses the latest technology for Sammontana gelato and the Tre Marie pastry production.

The Vinci pastry products plant has recently boosted its environmental performance, thanks to a new wastewater treatment plant. And Pomezia, which since 1973 has been the Sammontana Italia factory dedicated to the refined frozen pastry of Tre Marie, is now equipped with two production lines and a technology for packaging in small bags

leading brands

Sammontana’s market leading brands today include Sammontana ice cream, TreMarie, Il Pasticcere, Mongelo frozen pastry products and Bonchef savoury snacks and cakes

Tre Marie, the brand born with panettone in a pastry shop in Milan in the late nineteenth century, has been present in bars since the seventies with its frozen croissants. These products offer a daily experience of pleasure that makes breakfast at the bar a unique occasion day after day.

Bonchef is a line designed for delicious breaks and tasty lunches, comprising healthy and nutritious vegetables, many types of bread and pizzas and savoury snacks and cakes. The wide range of Bonchef

products is characterised by a high service content that offers support to ensure perfect cooking and impeccable preparation.

Committed to a clean environment

Sammontana Italia was the first in the ice cream sector to adopt a 4-step strategy aimed at compensating and reducing the Carbon Footprint of the entire life cycle of its main product. This path led, in July 2016, to the signing of a Voluntary Agreement between Sammontana Italia and the Ministry of the Environment for the compensation of the environmental footprint of Barattolino Sammontana, according to the international certification standards provided for by the Agreement.

The preparatory phase for the compensation of the Carbon Footprint, i.e. the evaluation along the entire life cycle of the product, has meant an important analysis that Sammontana Italia has carried out in collaboration with the University Consortium of Applied Research (CURA) of the University of Padua. The results of the evaluation, shared with the Ministry of the Environment, contributed to the definition of a “carbon management” model in the ice cream production sector.

The company also believes that educating the new generations - the adults of tomorrow - in good practices for the protection of our planet is of primary importance for a greener future. The “Barattolino Scuola Missione Green - A Dream for Tomorrow” project, launched by Sammontana with the first edition in 2017, is a complex program that has the main objective of educating children to take care of the environment, encouraging responsible attitudes aimed at respect and protection of nature.

In 2018 Sammontana Italia further extended its environmental projects to the food service and hotel industries’ Horeca programme, selecting some bathing establishments throughout Italy where only ice cream with compensated environmental impact will be sold and consumed.

The bathing establishments selected by Sammontana will also enhance their commitment to environmental protection through dedicated equipment, including energy-efficient refrigerators, and will sensitise their guests to the responsible consumption of ice cream through information material. The project started with the selection of six beaches, chosen for the environmental sensitivity demonstrated in carrying out their activities (e.g. separate collection and recycling, low-consumption lighting and on-site self-generation of electricity with renewable sources such as solar panels). n