Our Story
Our Antonelli Story
Back in 1884 our ancestor Cavaliere Domenico Antonelli left Italy for England. Initially he made his name in making wafers and then moved into baking biscuits (which is why our ice cream cones taste so good!). After helping supply the UK military with ‘iron rations’ during the second world war, the family business then expanded into the ice cream industry, at a time when the demand for ice cream cones was rapidly increasing across the UK.
‘Cones for the Connoisseur’ The only waffle cones made in the UK
The Antonelli Bros of the 1960’s decided to specialise in ‘Cones for the Connoisseur’ as they realised that customers were becoming more discerning about how they consumed their ice cream. They believed that a cone was no longer just a container but a tasteful addition to the whole ice cream experience, so quality was a priority right from the start.
Our forefathers were in fact pioneers in the UK ice cream cones industry, being the first company to manufacture sugar cones and then waffle cones in the UK. To this day Antonelli is the only UK manufacturer of wafer cones, sugar cones, waffle cones and Smoothy® waffle cones. Over the years we have also introduced many variants to our ice cream cones range, including a selection of decorated cones.
Pioneers in the Industry
With an Italian heritage and over 100 years experience in the UK wafer and cones market, we are proud to continue our business, now run by Domenico’s great grandsons. Perpetuating our pioneering philosophy, we have taken our service levels one step higher with the development of our Antonelli Gelato Academy, where we offer ice cream training courses and expertise in starting an ice cream business provided by our technical team.
Making Ice Cream & Gelato with our Italian Partners
Continuing our forefathers ambitions for excellence and high quality, we always ensure that we select partners in business who maintain the same high standards and principals. Working alongside world leading Italian ingredients and flavours manufacturers as well as family business Bussy (wafers & curls), in addition to the continued in-house production of all ice cream cones, the Antonelli brand continues to go from strength to strength. Quality is after all at the heart of our business.
Our Mission
As a family business with heritage and a reputation to uphold, we have a strong foundation on which to continually build and progress. Our breadth of knowledge and experience in the industry together with our long standing customer relationships enables us to find solutions to help serve your business at a higher level. We are constantly reviewing our products and services with the objective of offering our customers the best of the best. To that end our mission statement is:
"As experts in ice cream, we invest, inspire and innovate"
To find out about our latest ideas, products and services read our blog and follow us on Twitter, Facebook or Instagram.