Cream of the Crop

Founded in 2020, Cream of the Crop is a Ballycoolin based business founded by chef Giselle Makinde. Cream of the Crop specialise in Artisan Gelatos which are made from surplus food ingredients gathered from farmers, growers, and food producers.

Both large organisations such as Fyffes and smaller companies including the Irish sheep’s milk and Velvet Cloud supply unwanted, surplus products to Cream of the Crop. Some producers (such as Fyffes) donate their surplus free of charge. Cream of the Crop create original recipes from scratch to produce a wide range of gelatos free from artificial colourings or flavourings. The flavour range rotates weekly and includes options such as roasted plum and mascarpone, sea salt and caramel, strawberry oat milk and vegan chocolate and pumpkin seed.

Founded on foot of a personal investment Cream of the Crop has gone from strength to strength having been actively supported by Local Enterprise Office Fingal and have availed of pivotal supports such as Green for Micro, a Technical Assistance for Micro Exporters (TAME) grant, and Business Mentoring which have allowed the business to go for from strength to strength.

Having previously completed the Green for Micro Programme sustainability has become a key component of Cream of the Crop. Speaking on how Cream of the Crop has worked to be a sustainable, environmentally friendly business Giselle refers to how “So many other companies have reached out to me and I collect whatever people are willing to give and transform surplus ingredients into food products. We have already transferred two tonnes of surplus, unwanted food into Gelato.”

Following the success of their Gelato range, Cream of the Crop has expanded their product range and now produce Bananitas which are dark chocolate coated banana pieces. The business is striving to expand from being “just” an ice cream maker into a fully-fledged food tech business that transforms unwanted foods into a selection of healthy treats.