The ice cream shop is tinged with green. A sector that in the last year has received great attention from consumers thanks also to unprecedented online sales channels, is presenting itself to the recovery renewed and in better shape than ever. With great attention to the well-being of the planet and people. Young generations of ice cream makers are working on it, borrowing trends born in haute cuisine and pastry, experimenting with new raw materials, tastes, and approaches.

But what makes an ice cream eco-friendly? "Ice cream is sustainable when a control over water and electricity consumption is implemented during processing, the packaging must be environmentally friendly, starting from the cup up to the paper or wooden spoon. Of course, we have to be aware that we will have to bear a higher expense”, says Luca Sandri, Sole Director of the Scatolificio del Garda.

On the front of zero - kilometer raw materials, direct supply, organic and Dop/PGI products, the most "extreme" practices of zero waste, vegan, raw food, are embraced, with the use of parts such as fruit and vegetable peels and milk substitutes.

An in-depth study of raw materials is also borrowed from catering: experimentation is carried out with spontaneous herbs and foraging or invasive products such as kuzu, the Japanese plant that has invaded the South of the USA and is coming down to Italy from the Canton Ticino.

"The use of raw materials with low environmental impact, zero km or from certified producers, in addition to protecting the environment, allows us to offer the consumer a high quality and more genuine product" agrees Valter Jejčič, owner and director of the Slovenian Valmar Global. "Technology, applied to the good sense of the ice cream maker, creates a combination of eco-sustainability that can really make a difference for the protection of the planet" continues Jejčič, noting however that "there are still too many people who see eco-sustainability more as a form of marketing than as an approach that looks to the future. For example, since 2007 we have included in our catalogs facts and numbers that indicate how much water and electricity our machines consume”.

The feeling is that we are facing a change of pace. "If until three years ago there was not even talk of biodegradable and compostable cups, now there is an important demand in the packaging of no plastic separators for different tastes, made with waste materials. Objective: to reduce the environmental impact and the use of plastic "recalls Sandri.

Scatolificio del Garda already in 1993 produced a completely biodegradable and compostable paper cup and today it has a dedicated brand. "We are also providing the market with paper lids for cups that will replace the current plastic ones: they will be the new packaging revolution".

All this without forgetting that ice cream is also and above all a delicious food. Thus a historic address like Peck in Milan offers ice cream and wine pairing, combining the new summer taste, Walnut and salted caramel with chocolate praline walnuts, with a ten-year-old Porto Tawny. And the taste is served.