2018 was a year of breaking records. The best weather for decades, the most ice cream sales and the most funding Carpigiani has ever released for ice cream businesses.
With 2019 long-term weather forecasts predicting another great Summer, we look forward to another great year for the soft serve, gelato and desert industry.
We take a look at the news relating to the industry
HOT WEATHER WARNING: 2019 could be the hottest on record, says Met Office
The heatwave which gripped much of Britain during 2018 is just the first instalment, with global temperatures tipped to approach record-breaking levels this year, the Met Office has warned. Reported in the Express.
The highs will be the result of climate change caused by rising levels of greenhouse gases from human activity as well as modest warming from the El Nino weather phenomenon in the Pacific, which pushes up temperatures.
Forecasts issued by the Met Office at the end of 2017 for global temperatures this year were closely in line with what has been seen in 2018.
The forecasters predicted around 1C of warming, and estimates for January to October are showing temperatures around 0.96C above pre-industrial levels.
Professor Adam Scaife, head of long-range prediction at the Met Office, said: “Our forecasts suggest that, by the end of 2019, 19 of the 20 warmest years on record will have occurred since the year 2000.”
Dr Doug Smith, Met Office research fellow, said: “The forecast for 2019 would place next year amongst the five warmest years on record, which would all have occurred since 2015.
“All of these years have been around 1C warmer than the pre-industrial period.”
Tourist is charged £22 for an ICE CREAM in Florence – and the shop is fined £1,800 after police are called
A tourist was charged £22 for an ice cream in Florence – only for the shop to be fined £1,800 when police were called, report The Mail.
The Taiwanese holidaymaker complained about the price of his cone but was told the ice creams ‘cost a lot because they are tasty’.
He ended up paying for his 25 euro ice cream, but his Italian tour guide then called
Officers found that the shop had concealed its price list behind the counter and imposed a fine of 2,000 euros (£1,800).
Police official Elio Covino, told La Repubblica: ‘Hiding prices is very common and is a habit that creates a poor impression around the world, given that tourists are the main victims.’
It is not the first time tourists have complained of exorbitant costs in Italian tourist hotspots.
In August, a furious customer slammed a cafe for charging him €43 (£38) for two cups of coffee and two bottles of water.
Juan Carlos Bustamente, 62, was shocked when he got the bill at Caffe Lavena in St Mark’s Square, Venice.
He was charged the equivalent of £10.30 for each cup of coffee and £8.90 for each 25cl bottle of water.
In January 2017, a Venice restaurant charged tourists £1,000 for four steaks and a plate of fish.
The outraged Japanese diners – students from the University of Bologna – said they ordered three steaks and fried fish at an eatery also near St Mark’s Square.
With only glasses of water to accompany their modest meal, the group was left shocked by their €1,145 bill on Friday.
In 2013, a British family complained over being charged £13.50 each for three ice creams in Rome.
The Antica Roma
Dairy Dialog podcast 16: UK National Ice Cream Championships
21-Dec-2018 By Jim Cornall
Ice cream and gelato makers in the UK can enter the UK’s only National Ice Cream Competition 2019.
The ice cream industry’s premier event is held every year at the Ice Cream and Gelato Expo, with the next show at Harrogate’s Yorkshire Event Centre from February 12-14, 2019. The Expo is organized by the industry’s trade association – The Ice Cream Alliance.
There are 16 categories ranging from the most popular flavors across ice cream, sorbets and frozen yogurts to innovation in new flavors and presentation, as well as a ‘Newcomers’ award.
Category winners are judged at the Expo and an overall UK Champion is also announced.
Winners receive an Ice Cream Alliance Winners Certificate and silver trophy. Past winners have experienced significant boosts to their business as a result, the Alliance added.
“The National Ice Cream Competition has been held for 74 years,” said Zelica Carr, The Ice Cream Alliance CEO.
“It allows our industry to stimulate and recognise innovation, creativity and the highest standards of production. Ice cream is a big business in the UK – worth over £1bn per year – but it is also big on talent. That is what we celebrate with this competition.”
How Iran made ice cream 2,000 years ago
Iran claims to be the birthplace of ice cream, but how could it be made 2,000 years ago?
The Travel Show visits an underground space used to store ice in 400 BC and learns the secret behind perfect Iranian ice cream.
Van rammed repeatedly in Ice cream patch row, court hears
A Co Tyrone ice cream van man allegedly rammed another ice cream van up to six times on Rossnowlagh Beach, Co Donegal over a row about “patches”, a court heard yesterday. Reported in The Belfast Telegraph.
Tom Ward (65) of Drumnakilly Road, Omagh is also charged with the theft of keys worth €50 from the other vehicle, using threatening and abusive behaviour, careless driving, having no insurance and failing to produce insurance at Rossnowlagh Beach on July 18 last year.
Ballyshannon District Court heard that the defendant was pleading to the charge of stealing the keys, but claimed he had already produced his document to Ballyshannon Garda Station.
Sergeant Oliver Devaney told the court that the defendant was one of two ice-cream vans operating on the beach.
The gardai were called by the driver of another ice-cream van to say the defendant told him to move the van or he would ram it. The other van driver replied that he could sell his ice-cream wherever he wanted to.
The defendant then took the key out of the other man’s van, the beach was very busy at the time and he began to ram the other van up to six times, the court was told.
The defendant then handed back the keys after a short time, the court heard. Ward admitted taking the keys from the van. A witness, buying ice-cream for her children at the time began to record the altercation, and Ward proceeded to ram the other van with his vehicle, the court heard.
Defence solicitor John Murray said the defendant was not the owner of the van, it was a Mr McCullough and the documents would be produced. The alleged insurance matter was adjourned.
Mr Murray said there was an on-going altercation for favourable “patches” on the beach. He said the alleged injured party said he was “jolted once” in his statement.
Judge Kevin Kilrane adjourned the matter to January 18.
Topics from this blog: News 2019 weather 2019 summer 2019 Ice Cream Expo