MEET YOUR {OUTSTANDING} MAKER, LITTLE ‘LATO
Auckland’s Little Lato, has found success at the Outstanding New Zealand Food Producer Awards, being named Free From Champion in 2021 for Mango Lassi Dairy-Free Gelato and collecting nine medals – six of them Gold - between 2020 and 2022. Founder Hannah Wood overcame setbacks such as power cuts and melted freezers of gelato to bring exciting new flavour to Aotearoa’s gelato lovers…
Hannah Wood is quite possibly living the dream - spending her days conjuring up sweet, delicious and creative gelato recipes to share wit dessert lovers across the country.
Little Lato’s origin story began in 2015 when Hannah, who had been working for dairy giants received a scholarship to attend Carpigiani Gelato University in Bologna, Italy.
“It wasn’t directly related to setting up a business, it was more a scholarship for the New Zealand food industry at large,” Hannah explains. “But it was such a bucket list item for me and I thought it would be cool to help Fonterra or other aspects of the industry”.
After arriving in Italy, Hannah recalls she felt inspired by the food and culture that surrounded her, especially that of gelato. “I got so inspired seeing how big gelato was around the world, and New Zealand is a big ice cream country, so I wanted to bring it back here”.
Just three years after the initial spark was lit, things began to take off. After purchasing some equipment, Hannah set up a kitchen below Crave Cafe in Auckland. Despite her incredible Italian experience and bucketloads of passion, Hannah remarks establishing herself in the food world presented itself with a fair set of challenges when she arrived back to New Zealand.
“We began to grow out of Crave Cafe, and honestly everything that could go wrong, went wrong” she laughs. “There were seven instances where we had a whole freezer of produce go to waste, we had three power cuts, we had a supplier leave the freezer open, and we had an electrician who had a heart attack…all within two weeks! Honestly, it was one of those things that you just had to laugh about,” she says.
Logistics aside, Hannah says the New Zealand market was also challenging to break into. “New Zealand is a small population so you need to have a good location to get success, it’s competitive, and there’s lots of good food offerings,” she says. “Because you’re a small business you’re trying to do everything, it’s a small team and it’s hard work but it’s rewarding”.
Hannah says the Little ‘Lato business model is all about authenticity, sustainability and accessibility. “It’s authentic Italian gelato, it’s just how I learnt it in Italy, all recipes are developed from scratch, it’s made in small ten litre batches with real fruits and no air added,” she says.
Alongside authenticity is accessibility to her gelato, ensuring that everyone from all different dietary backgrounds has an option. “We want options so that everyone can experience the joy of gelato, we have gluten free options and vegan options which are just as indulgent as others,” she says.
Ensuring her business also operates in a sustainable, community focused way is also crucial for Hannah. “We make sure we do all this in a sustainable way, and we have introduced lots of initiatives around ingredient supply and wastage, participating in our local communities, supporting schools and students” she explains. “There is a real emphasis on doing good for people and the planet, and we are always looking at how we can keep improving in that area.”
Hannah describes Little Lato’s win at the Outstanding New Zealand Food Producer Awards as “awesome,” with the team still buzzing! “You often go into awards thinking that because there’s so many good producers out there, you might not win, so you just focus on having fun,” she says. “There’s only a handful of different awards, so when you get something, it’s even more amazing”.
While there are potential plans for Little ‘Lato to expand, Hannah says the team are taking things one day at a time. “We’re a small team, there’s two of us throughout the year that make it work, so it truly is a labour of love” she says. “We’ve got big visions of where we could go, but so far, it’s step by step.”
Little ‘Lato is available by the scoop at outlets from Timaru through to Auckland, you can also find your favourite Little ‘Lato flavour in packaged pints at speciality retailers across the motu. To see where you’ll find your favourite Little ‘Lato and to learn more about them visit their website.
“ We want options so that everyone can experience the joy of gelato, we have gluten free options and vegan options which are just as indulgent as others”