Being little is a surprisingly big deal when it comes to making gelato. It means we can hand select the finest ingredients, hand make our gelato with love, and be hands-on in inventing all kinds of delicious flavours.
At the heart of our flavour philosophy is curiosity and surprise, and the imaginative fusion of ingredients. Any season, event or occasion is a wonderful excuse to acquaint unexpected ingredients with each other. Think spiced gelato loaded up with chunks of Christmas pudding, pink champagne paired with pink macarons. Our extraordinary gelato flavours for those on gluten free, nut free, or vegan diets are also out-of-this-world delicious, made with as much imagination as our other creations.
No matter what you decide, each and every small batch of Little Lato is handcrafted and churned to velvety, silky, award-winning perfection.
With more than 85 awards to our name, here are some of proudest achievements:
2024 Supreme Champion - Boutique NZ Ice Cream Producer
2022 Supreme Champion - Boutique NZ Ice Cream Producer
2024 Best Gelato in NZ (NZ Ice Cream Awards)
2024 Best New to Market (NZ Ice Cream Awards)
2024 Best of New Zealand Produce (NZ Ice Cream Awards)
2024 Best Dairy-Free (NZ Ice Cream Awards)
2023 Best Dairy-Free (NZ Ice Cream Awards)
2023 Champion Free-From Product (Outstanding NZ Food Producer Awards)
2022 Best Gelato in NZ
2020 Best Gelato in NZ
2021 Champion Free-From Product
2021 NZ Food Award Winner
We love partnering with other cool businesses out there, especially ones that are like us and NZ local!
A whole bunch of collabs have been completed to date – partnering with some of our favourite local producers to create products showcasing both brands. Here is a snapshot of a handful:
NZ's Best Gelato - Officially! Boy oh boy, we are absolutely buzzing here at Little ‘Lato right now… the 2024 NZ Ice Cream Awards were last night and we came away with 5 trophies!! Have a read of what we won here.
Taking nuttiness to a whole new level is Little Lato’s indulgent (and award-winning) Peanut Butter Chocolate flavour. It’s even dairy-free, so plant-based eaters can also enjoy a scoop or two. That said, Little Lato’s new flavour collaboration...
Self-professed ‘gelato fanatic’ Hannah Wood shares a little bit about her Gelato journey.
Little ‘Lato received the inaugural Free-From Special Award for Little 'Lato Mango Lassi in 2021 and received the Award again in 2023. This year’s award was received along with two Gold Medals, a Silver Medal and a Bronze Medal with the judges raving about the Mango Lassi saying ‘Yum we love it, blown away! Beautiful mango flavour. Great balance, not too sweet. Fab texture. Nailed it!’
"Judges were full of praise for the Little ‘Lato Speculoos Gelato saying “Deliciousness by the spoonful. Wonderful innovation. We loved the creamy texture…the balanced spice notes lifted the overall experience, enhanced its eatability, making it totally morish.”
A new report suggests ice cream could become New Zealand's next big export success and we were interviewed by Newshub to tell our story!
We were asked to share our story for 2021 Fieldays TV. Here is the video talking about how we started and what we do - have a watch!
We were lucky enough to be approached by Woman’s weekly to feature in the March edition of the magazine.Click here for a snapshot of the article, written by Ciara Pratt.