The Morelli Family name is synonymous with Ice Cream.
Meet Our Team
Favourite Flavour: Sea Salty Caramel
I'm the Wee Boss! Favourite Flavour: Honeycomb
Favourite Flavour: Parm Violet
Favourite Flavour: Ferrero Rocher
Favourite Flavour: Dime Bar Crunch
Favourite Flavour: Rhubarb & Custard
Favourite Flavour: Pink Panther
Favourite Flavour: Strawberry
Favourite Flavour: Honeycomb
Favourite Flavour: Double Cream Vanilla
Favourite Flavour: Honeycomb
Favourite Flavour: All of them!
Our Great Uncle Peter was one of nine brothers who left their Italian homeland on foot in the early 1900s in search of work. Peter learned the art of glassblowing in Paris and later settled in London. His brother Joe ventured further north, and after landing in Greenock, Scotland, he crossed the sea to Ireland and established a café in Ballymena. With business doing well, Peter answered Joe’s call for help, and later in 1911, with his brother’s guidance, he opened his own café in Coleraine. Peter’s café on the town’s Stone Row quickly became a popular meeting place for locals. He became renowned for his delicious Fish & Chips, and in the summer months, he would make homemade ice cream using a recipe passed down by his father, Barbato. When the sun was shining, Peter would push his ice cream cart to the nearby resorts of Portrush, Portstewart, and Castlerock, where locals and visitors developed a taste for his frozen treats.
By 1914 Peter met & fell in love with a local woman, Annie Dymond and after they got married, they decided to expand the business, opening cafes in Portrush and Portstewart. Peter and Annie didn’t have any children of their own, so they called upon their nephew and our Grandfather, Angelo to come from Italy and help them run the shops. With Angelo and our grandmother Anastasia at the helm, the business flourished. Now, five generations later, our Morelli family owned ice cream parlours are an institution in Northern Ireland and they continue to trade successfully on the beautiful Causeway Coast. Peter’s brother, Joe moved back across the Irish Sea and re-established his business in Broadstairs on the South coast of England. Our cousins there have expanded the Morelli brand further by establishing ice cream parlours in Covent Garden, the Dubai International Mall and at the Café de Paris in Monte Carlo.
Whilst the English branch of the family have been busy expanding the Morelli brand in such exotic locations, the Northern Irish branch of the family has been busy establishing Morelli’s ice cream across Ireland. Having celebrated our centenary in 2011, we now operate scoop franchises throughout the country and our retail packs of ice cream are available in leading retail outlets and supermarkets right across Ireland. In 2012, we secured two first prizes in the UK National Ice Cream Awards for our famous Double Cream Vanilla and in March of that year we also scooped the prestigious Champion of Champions shield at a special ceremony in London. Our family story of hardship, emigration, romance and family separation has been well documented. We are extremely proud of our humble beginnings, from our Great Uncle’s little café on the cobbled streets of Coleraine into what is now Ireland’s most famous Italian Ice Cream.
Marino, Romeo, Tania, Arnaldo & Daniela Morelli
