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We’ve teamed up with gelato geniuses Little ‘Lato, oat milk legends Otis Oat Milk, and the good people at Cook & Nelson to create something outrageously good for Fairtrade Fortnight — Banana Chocolate Chunk gelato. This vegan treat is as decadent as it is ethical. We caught up with Little ‘Lato founder Hannah Wood to hear the story behind the scoop.
We are sunshine in a scoop! We’re all about creating authentic Italian gelato, crafted from scratch in small batches just like I learnt in Italy. At the heart of our flavour philosophy is curiosity, surprise, and the imaginative fusion of ingredients. Think spiced gelato loaded with chunks of Christmas pudding or exciting collaborations with our favourite local artisans. Our extraordinary gluten-free, nut-free, and vegan gelato flavours are just as imaginative and out-of-this-world delicious as the rest of our creations.
I started Little ‘Lato just over 7.5 years ago, launching in December 2017 with our first gelato hub partnering with Crave Café.
My gelato journey began a couple of years earlier when I attended the Carpigiani Gelato University in Italy. It started as a bucket list item — to devour and learn all about gelato while travelling — but quickly sparked the dream to bring authentic gelato home to NZ.
The biggest highlights have been partnering with incredible people and winning awards. Collaborations are my favourite part of the job — whether it’s supplying gelato goodness or creating epic flavours together.
We’ve also won more than 120 awards, including Supreme Champion for Top Boutique Ice Cream Producer in NZ (twice), the first gelato product to win the Supreme Award in 2022, and the first dairy-free product to win it in 2024.
Almost everything that could go wrong has gone wrong! Floods destroyed nearly all our equipment, we’ve faced fire, theft, and power cuts (not ideal for frozen products).
Right now, rising costs are the biggest challenge. There’s only so much we can charge for a scoop, yet everything keeps getting more expensive to make.
This collab was inspired by the legends at All Good!
We’ve partnered with All Good for several years, using their oat milk and bananas in many of our flavours. They reached out to see if we’d be keen to create something alongside Otis and Cook & Nelson for Fairtrade Fortnight, and I said a big heck yes! Collaborating with other cool businesses is what I love most — and these are three of the best.
Sustainability is at the heart of Little ‘Lato. We’re on a journey not just to help New Zealanders fall in love with authentic Italian gelato, but to do so in a way that supports people and the planet. It’s something we consider in every business decision.
I love making flavours that are outrageously delicious, including plant-based options just as creative and decadent as dairy versions. This is one of those examples — velvety smooth, rich in flavour, and downright delicious. We hope people tasting it won’t even realise it’s vegan!
We want them to be mind-blown that it’s vegan!
We create many batches every day. Everything is made in 10L batches, so it’s a relatively quick process to mix ingredients, pasteurise our bases, and churn the gelato. Pasteurisation is the longest step (around two hours once ingredients are mixed), but the actual freezing part is done in under 20 minutes.
Ooh, that’s a tricky one… I love variety so my answer changes almost every time! Some of my ultimate favourites are Speculoos (spiced biscuit), Chocolate Orange Sorbet, Tiramisu, and Hazelnut Chocolate.
The Banana Chocolate Chunk gelato is scooping now in both our Hamilton and Ponsonby parlours, and will be around for another couple of weeks — or until we run out of ingredients!
Little ‘Lato Hamilton: Grey Street, inside Made Hamilton East
Little ‘Lato Ponsonby: 119 Ponsonby Road
