The indulgent product making a difference in more ways than one

By Kaylah-Joelle Baker Being gifted with an ice cream recipe book for Mother’s Day was not only the beginning of a new career path for Southbank resident Roz Kaldor-Aroni, but also the start of a “better for you” ice cream option. Discovering the need for chemistry and physics when making ice cream, she found herself enjoying making ice cream more than she ever thought she would. And her Eureka Tower apartment kitchen soon became a place to experiment. “I couldn’t believe I found something that combined science and maths with food. It was completely heaven-sent for me,” she said. “The more I knew, the more I needed to know.” Using the knowledge she gained from various different training schools, alongside her background in science and mathematics, Mrs Kaldor-Aroni decided to leave her career in the not-for-profit sector and take her hobby seriously. And seeing there was a lack of options suitable for pre-diabetics like herself, she began exploring options with less sugar and no chemicals. Determined to find alternatives that would not compromise the taste, her “eyes were opened” following a masterclass she took in Canada, which ultimately led to the founding of her own recipes and brand, Elato Artisanal Ice Cream. “The product is sensational. I’m using less added sugar and to compensate for using less sugar we added soluble fibre. We are the only premium ice cream with three stars and we are quite proud of that fact,” Mrs Kaldor-Aroni said. “Every single ingredient has no chemical intervention of any kind and I am very strict on that.” Finishing her training just prior to COVID, Mrs Kaldor-Aroni spent last year “trialling recipes and scaling” and “ironing out any bugs”. It culminated with a successful product launch this year. “I started selling the product around April and then we got a national distributor which came on board and they have now started to roll it out nationally to over 200 stores,” she said. With three Australian-made, vegan and dairy “clean” products now available, the most important part of her product is how it continues to give back to the community through donating to OzHarvest. “The good feeling is being able to give some money away. OzHarvest is just exceptional, so responsive and very keen. They are a really good fit for us and so that’s the part that excites me more than anything,” Mrs Kaldor-Aroni said. Despite not being profitable as of yet, the company is continuing to give “four cents per tub until [sales] ramp up”. “I really needed to have the ‘give back’ as part of Elato Artisanal Ice Cream. There have been days where things haven’t worked out and it has not been easy, but those are the days I really hold on to the fact that it’s all worth it,” she said. “It has always been about leveraging my ice cream knowledge and skills to give back to the community and figuring out how I could best do that.” • For more information: elato.com.au