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Carpigiani shares sweet opportunity with 'Fantastick 4 U' concept

The gelato bar concept is gaining momentum in the frozen dessert market with gelato bar shops surfacing across the U.S.

October 23, 2015

Carpigiani introduced its new gelato bar business concept, gelato bars, or frozen gelato on a stick, including coatings and toppings, made in Carpigiani's Masterstick soft serve freezer and Fantastick Blast freezer. The gelato bar concept is gaining momentum in the frozen dessert market with gelato bar shops surfacing across the U.S., according to a company press release.

Randy Key, of The Pop Shop in Cincinnati, Ohio, was in search of a dessert option for his Italian southwest-style pizzeria. The Pop Shop offers more than 40 flavor combinations of gelato pops, gourmet pops and alcoholic "boozy pops." Gelato bars offer creativity for customers with numerous combinations of coatings and toppings.

"The customers are the 'Pop Artists,' and they choose the flavor combination," Key said. "It's an interactive experience."

The Pop Shop sells thousands of pops each month and 40 percent of Delicio Coal Fired Pizza customers also purchase from The Pop Shop, the release stated. Key opened The Pop Shop using Carpigiani's Masterstick, Nordika 400 and Carpigiani bar molds.

"Carpigiani's equipment is compact with very easy maintenance and helped us get into business quickly," Key said.

Carpigiani approaches gelato bars with the Masterstick countertop soft serve model and Fantastick Blast Freezer. The Masterstick countertop features a cylinder construction that delivers soft serve ice cream and gelato. The gelato will then be injected into Fantastick's 48 molds and placed in the Fantastick Blast freezer, which freezes the gelato bars in approximately 30 minutes in an ergonomic position to preserve the microcrystal, cellular structure, the release stated. The Fantastick Blast Freezer can also serve as a blast freezer for other items as well as a preparation display cabinet.

"Fantasticks 4 U is rapidly becoming the newest explosive trend in the frozen dessert industry," said John Babila, president of Carpigiani USA. "Operators that see this and have the vision are moving in this direction as quickly as possible to capitalize on it."