He is the creator of the ice cream that has conquered several generations in Ecuador since the eighties. Brands such as Il Gelato Italiano and Sorbetto were born from his genius to develop unexpected flavors of ice cream, as the only one in the world without sugar, without fat, without lactose and with a high protein content, which earned him the award, in 2010, as the best ice cream maker Aldo Faidutti, who is now a consultant, and his daughter Doménica, president of Sorbetta, talk to Diario EL UNIVERSO about their beginnings, difficult moments and future projects.

When did you open your first ice cream shop?

AF: Almost 40 years ago, on March 19, 1983, the first ice cream parlor Il Gelato Italiano (later Il Gelato) was inaugurated. I was an employee of a chocolate development company and I asked my boss for permission to open a pastry shop, and I opened the first pastry shop at 9 de Octubre and Carchi, in Ismael Pérez Pazmiño’s house.

Where does the passion for making ice cream come from?

AF: In Italy, I worked at the Perugina chocolate factory, in the city of Perugia, and among the products they sold were semi-manufactured ice creams for artisanal ice cream makers. There was an old man, in the Investigations Department, this man spent all his time making ice creams and I thought they were delicious; and he appreciated me.

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What was the first ice cream you made?

AF: My father was Ecuador’s ambassador to the Soviet Union and in December 1981 he invited me to spend Christmas there. It was about minus 30 degrees, I went out on the balcony, buried the pot in the snow, bought a lemon and made my first ice cream, it turned out super sour.

Did you continue in Italy?

AF: Yes, I started going to fairs, but I became interested in machines, I like mechanics. I found that there was potential for product development, I liked the formulation.

How did your pastry shop grow?

AF: Fast. My wife served, I made ice cream when I left work at night. Every two days I went at 03:00 to buy fruit at the 6 March market and Sucre.

The first store was too small for me and I built a factory on Víctor Hugo Briones and Clemente Ballén; and then another one in Durán that became the most modern in Latin America, was inaugurated on December 22, 1998, when a number of financial institutions had already gone bankrupt and a week after Filanbanco went bankrupt. The banks were frozen, the ice cream chambers began to fill up, no one had money to buy.

Has the factory gone bankrupt?

AF: Of course, but it didn’t stop, but from 100% of what was produced, it fell to 12% in freezing, there was an excess of production and maturities began. In 2007, AGD, after fighting and giving everything to preserve the work of 280 employees, sold the business, but to some he sold machines, to others the building, to others the brands, so they failed.

What happened to you and your ice cream?

AF: I was left with nothing. In 2004, when the conflicts started – miraculously they lasted until 2007 – I talked to my five children and my wife about starting Sorbetto.

We started with a small hole, a pastry shop in Urdesa on December 8, 2004 with less than we started in 1983. It grew and we produced even better quality ice creams. I have nothing to regret. In need, one thinks more and becomes creative.

DF: At the beginning of Sorbetto, we didn’t have the money to buy ice cream cabinets or machines. My dad started building display cases and freezers, he does everything, even the machines in the chocolate rooms.

So you’re a self-taught ice cream maker?

AF: I was self-taught and when I started in 1983, there was a Hurtado government, imports were banned, nothing was found and I had to juggle to get new ice creams, at that time there was no Oreo, there was nothing and there were no spare parts ., nor where to buy them; and I became interested in making freezers, I studied refrigeration and disassembled freezers to learn and started making many machines.

Aldo Faidutti is the creator of different ice cream lines and Sorbetto flavors. He was also previously from Il Gelato Italiano. He actively participates in the process of making ice cream and machines for the company. Photo: Peter Tavra Franco

How many lines and flavors does Sorbetto have?

DF: We have 45 permanent flavors. In the ice cream lines we have milk, water, Light 0% sugar, fat and lactose. Also vegan ice creams with almond milk, vegan Light sugar-free, skimmed and lactose-free yogurt Light. In pastries, we have cones, a line of chocolates and sauces, and a line of fruit pulp.

Production is 25,000 liters of ice cream per month.

How many Sorbetto locations do you currently have?

DF: There are thirteen stores, we have nine of our own, and the rest are franchised.

When did Sorbetto start selling franchises and how are they doing?

AF: It is very complicated, it was difficult in Ecuador, we had to close some franchises, for example, they put other brands of ice cream in Quito.

DF: I went to check the ice cream shops in Quito and I saw different colors of ice cream in the display case, they were not my ice creams. We sold the first franchise to a colleague from the university, we had no idea what a franchise was, it didn’t go well, then we sold the second one and headed to Quito.

AF: Many franchises have been rejected, we are not interested in the franchise money, we are interested in a good location, the failure of the franchise is our failure. I don’t want to earn money, and that person loses, it’s in my interest to return it.

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What’s the weirdest ice cream you’ve ever made?

AF: Ice cream with Toblerone.

DF: When my dad developed Toblerone ice cream, people didn’t have this chocolate in mind, people didn’t recognize it. This ice cream was sold only in Samborondón, in the rest of the city no one knew what it was.

What is the future of Sorbet?

AF: I don’t see it so much in the growth of more ice cream parlors, because crime has affected business, people are less willing to walk than before and that’s a limitation as a franchise, unless it’s in a mall, but I develop products for supermarkets. I have in mind a supermarket chain to which I want to offer these products and use the differentiation I have from the competition that has not yet copied me.