OUR INGREDIENTS
We have always been committed to using only the best quality ingredients, sourcing from top suppliers and making everything we can from scratch in-house. A few years ago, we thought, why not take quality control one step further and actually produce our own raw ingredients? What if we could ensure the highest quality milk for our gelato, the freshest fruit for our spreads, and more? What started out as a bit of a fantasy started to turn into reality, as we embarked on a journey to become the primary producers of some of our key ingredients.
Dulce de Leche
When we first started making our own dulce de leche gelato at Messina we were able to buy dulce from Argentina. After a few years, our supplier suddenly told us he couldn’t make it anymore. We tried a different supplier who promised us the same product, but alas, it just didn’t cut it. Instead of finding a new supplier, we took on the challenge of making it ourselves. Properly and on a relatively large scale. Not a small task. It took a trip to Argentina, some long sessions (in broken Spanglish) with a sweet talking man called Santiago, and the installation of a brand spanking new machine called a ‘Paila’ which allows us to proudly make our own dulce de leche. You’ll eat it in our gelato, as the ‘caramel’ in our yoghurt caramel, and in various creations along the way.
CHOCOLATE
Messina’s labour of love has never been so relevant when telling the story of our chocolate making machine. Imported and shipped from Italy and installed in Rosebery (Sydney), this beast was custom designed for us to make all of our white, milk, dark and nut blended chocolate from scratch. We import cocoa butter and cocoa mass from Ecuador which is mixed with sugar, milk and nuts (depending on the type of chocolate). Each chocolate recipe is formulated to blend seamlessly into our signature flavours, specials, and event products; which you’ve all secretly been eating for the last few months.