Story

Every summer, millions of visitors savor an ice cream in Italy, unaware that its modern story owes much to American ingenuity. Before becoming a staple of beaches, cafes, and summer strolls, gelato was a delicate preparation, produced in small quantities and difficult to preserve. In the postwar era, a Tuscan family would transform this constraint into an opportunity. Their idea: repurpose abandoned American military equipment to allow gelato to move beyond the boundaries of its neighborhood.

Before mechanization, gelato remained a local affair

The Italians did not discover frozen desserts only after the war. Since Antiquity, the Romans cooled wine and fruit preparations with snow. In Sicily, the Arabs later used the snow from Mount Etna to craft sweet, scented mixtures, laying the groundwork for the granita tradition.

During the Renaissance, the preparations continued to evolve. In Florence, the architect Bernardo Buontalenti devised in the 16th century a frozen cream enriched with milk and eggs, bearing a texture close to today’s gelato. Yet for a long time, making a frozen dessert remained a complex endeavor. The mixture was cooled in a blend of natural ice and salt, while the churn was done by hand. This method demanded time and constant attention, limiting production and complicating long-term preservation of the product.

Production thus remained limited and essentially local. Even the arrival of electric refrigeration gear, at the end of the 1920s, did not suffice to turn gelato into a product easy to produce and distribute on a large scale. There was still a need to produce regularly, preserve the dessert, and above all transport it without it losing its texture.

Cruically, this is the challenge the Bagnoli family would face in Empoli. In 1946, Renzo Bagnoli transformed the family dairy into a bar-ice cream shop called Sammontana, and began producing its own gelato. Two years later, his brothers Sergio and Loriano joined, and production took on a new dimension. They started selling their gelato beyond Empoli.

American equipment recovered after the war

That is where Sammontana’s story intersects with the American army. After World War II, they headed to Genoa, where a scrap yard held discarded ice-making machine parts left by the U.S. Army. With limited means, they bought whatever could be useful and adapted it themselves to mechanize production. The shift was significant: it was no longer just about making gelato in small batches behind a bar, but about having a tool capable of increasing production while preserving an artisanal touch.

This evolution, however, solved only part of the problem. Once gelato could be produced in larger quantities, distribution remained a hurdle. The Bagnoli brothers then devised their own solutions. They designed a six-liter metal container, practical enough to transport the gelato and allow bars and cafés to serve it directly from the canister. This innovation appeared in 1955, as sales began to rise outside Empoli.

“The Bagnoli brothers designed a six-liter can that integrated seamlessly into their improvised supply chain. Bars and cafés could serve the ice directly from the can,” explains Luca Cesari, an Italian food historian, to the BBC. “When they began lending their freezers to bar owners, the model was complete.”

The strategy works. Gelato could now be produced in Empoli and then sold to other establishments.

Gelato accompanies the Italian economic miracle

From the 1950s onward, Italy entered a period of rapid growth known as the “Italian economic miracle.” Between 1950 and 1963, wages rose, many families left rural areas for cities, and living standards improved. Italians spent more on leisure, while seaside holidays and evening strolls became new habits. Gelato found an ideal setting to become popular: it was inexpensive, easy to enjoy, and associated with these new leisure moments.

Sammontana took advantage of this shift to continue expanding. After starting to distribute its gelato beyond Empoli, the company rode the rising demand and gradually expanded its network. In 1960, the Bagnoli brothers opened a factory in Empoli to cope with growth. Their gelato was no longer just the product of a Tuscan bar‑ice cream shop; it became a product available in numerous establishments across Italy.

The success of this new approach to producing and distributing ice creams soon inspired other companies. Manufacturers such as Algida, Motta, or Spica developed larger-scale production as well. Yet this industrialization did not erase artisanal gelaterias; it helped two models cohabit: that of the large brands and that of the artisans.

“Industrial gelato forced artisanal gelato to evolve, and ultimately Italy developed both a powerful industrial sector and a vast network of independent and artisanal gelaterias,” explains Eduardo Zucchini, spokesman for the Gelato Museum Carpigiani, to the BBC. Competition particularly pushed artisans to improve their hygiene, equipment, and organization.