An award-winning family business has been bringing the taste of its unique Italian gelato to Inverness for more than seven years.
Miele’s Gelateria was opened in December 2016 by brothers Michael and David Miele alongside their dad, Roberto.
The Miele family has been serving ice cream for almost 100 years in the north and north-east.
The business now runs several locations across the Highlands, including Church Street in Inverness as well as Aviemore and Loch Ness.
Its trailer also travels across the Highlands and onto some of the islands every week from March through to October.
The scoop on Miele’s Gelateria sweet Highlands success
Michael said he always dreamt of following in his great grandfather’s footsteps in the ice cream industry.
He primarily focuses on the manufacturing side of Miele’s Geletaria at its Seafield Road facility.
Michael said: “Our family has been making ice cream and gelato in Scotland for almost 100 years.
“It has been passed down from my great grandad, then to my grandad and then my dad and uncles.
“I was a chef before, but it had always been something I wanted to be involved in.
“We felt it was the right time so I went and got the right skill set in order to push it forward to the next level.
“My dad Roberto has always said if you make a good product then people will come, so we focused rally hard on that.”
The original business plan was to add three part-time seasonal staff – however it now has a core team of around 30, which rises to 50 during the summer.
Miele’s Gelateria opened in the middle of winter in order to gauge a scoop on what locals thought.
Despite a highly busy tourist season in Inverness, Michael was keen to ensure the business would see support all year round.
He added: “It’s really important to us that we engage with the local community and make sure we know what they’re after.
“We had to make sure our prices were fair and we were making the flavours which they want.
“I’m so grateful for how they’ve taken us in and supported the business all the way – without locals we wouldn’t survive.
“It isn’t just about making money, we want to be a part of Inverness for a very long time. ”
Becoming a specialist in Sicily
Michael travelled to Italy in order to perfect his skills, receiving training from gelato master chefs.
He said: “I went over to Sicily and worked there – I learned how to deal with lots of products.
“It also helped me to perfectly balance recipes which is important as we do everything from scratch.
“It helps us to stand out from competitors. We take a totally different approach from most in the UK, we know our product is unique.”
Miele’s Gelateria on scooping up several Highland locations
Expansion was always part of plans after seeing success in the Highland capital and when the family felt it was time, they took a “leap of faith” into Aviemore six years ago.
Michael said: “Aviemore was somewhere my brother and I spent a lot of time growing up.
“The area meant something to us and that was important from my point of view.
“Then when we invested in a sustainable manufacturing facility, we needed to expand again.
“Loch Ness is a key area with the likes of tourists and seasonal opportunities.
“When the opportunity came about, it wasn’t something we felt we could turn down.”
The business doesn’t have any future expansion plans at the moment and will instead work on continuing to perfect its offerings.
Taking environmental and sustainable manufacturing approach
The business focuses on working with local fresh produce and receives its milk from a farm in Buckie.
Michael said: “It’s important to us that we don’t skimp on any ingredients. It’s completely from scratch.
“For example, we take our pistachios and hazelnuts and roast them ourselves – rather than buying pastes.
“All of our strawberry and raspberry products are also made with real fresh fruit.”
Michael also said the new sustainable manufacturing facility will help in solidifying Miele’s in Inverness for “years and years to come”.
He added: “We invested heavily in a sustainable manufacturing facility including our recyclable water systems.
“We use around 1,500 litres of cold water every hour in each machine and there are 10 of them.
“All of it would’ve been going down a drain but instead we have installed a system which means it’s reused.”
“It’s really important for myself, David and my dad – we want future generations to look back and be proud.
Conversation