Rural gelato ingredients company leaves the bush behind

Gelato ingredients maker, GIMA, is closing its rural factory in the NSW country town of Molong to move closer to the city.

The company's new facility will be located in Taren Point in southern Sydney, and its show room and shop front – for both customers and consumers – will be located at Bulli Tops just north of Wollongong.

GIMA, which stands for Gelato Ingredients Manufacturers of Australia, is run by Giovanni Di Francesca, who learned how to make gelato in his youth in Sicily, and his son Robert.

In 2000, Giovanni Di Francesca started selling gelato ingredients from Italy to shops in Australia and, in 2008, he opened his own factory.

GIMA now sells fruit, nut and chocolate pastes and gelato bases made from local produce to artisan gelato makers, industrial gelato and ice cream manufacturers, and food service customers.

The company says its customers use its pastes in gelato, sorbet, ice cream, biscuit flavouring, food garnishes, toppings and spreads.

Its Molong factory is around 500 square metres and includes rooms for fruit and chocolate cooking, nut roasting and crushing, and base preparation. Also on site is a packing and storage plant, and an R&D facility.