About Us
Our founder began making gelato in 2009, and it quickly became a customer favorite in his Bethesda Maryland restaurant. He had trained with several Italian Gelato Masters who taught him the “old world” method for gelato mastery, which consists of three basic concepts.
- Gelato is made with love.
- Artisan gelato is made using only all-natural ingredients.
- Gelato is made in small batches using the “hot process” method of production, which creates a gelato with the best texture, flavor and creamy mouthfeel.
Restaurant patrons often asked if they could buy our founder’s gelato to take home, and the idea of building a gelato business was born. As we brainstormed a name for the company, we quickly settled on the Italian word “gemma,” which means a gem, marvelous and practically perfect. By using “old world” methods and all-natural ingredients, we strive to create products that fit this description.
We provide gelato catering services in the Washington D.C. Metropolitan Area, and we ship products to all 50 states in our attractive insulated gift boxes. Your gelato arrives frozen and fresh – a memorable and unique gift idea.
About Our Gelato
Each morning, we start the day with fresh eggs, milk and cream. We add fresh fruits, nuts, chocolates and other all-natural ingredients to make, what we believe to be, America’s best gelato and sorbetto. In comparison, 99% of the gelato and ice cream made in the U.S. is produced with pre-made mixes containing artificial ingredients using the “cold process” method, which is faster and less expensive.
Even in Italy today, “old world” gelato methods are used by only about 5% of gelaterias, as most use artificial stabilizers and emulsifiers. True “old world” gelato is a rarity these days.
Gemma produces gelato using the “hot process” method exclusively, which involves mixing ingredients at extremely high temperatures, creating a more homogenized mixture. To explain, heating the molecules allows them to become more fully hydrated, thus infusing more flavor into each molecule and adding depth to the gelato mixture. The next step is freezing; when freezing gelato from a heated state, smaller frozen crystals are produced than when it is frozen from a cold state. This reduces crystallization and produces a smoother, more dense and creamier gelato.
Finally, our gelato flavors are made with Gemma’s exclusive all-natural process. We don’t use any artificial colors, flavors, stabilizers or emulsifiers. Hydrogenated fats, corn or high-fructose syrups, palm oils, GMOs or powdered gelato mixes will never be found in our geletaria. Our gelato is clean label, 100% all-natural and low in fat and sugar, with a creamy taste and intense flavor.
As far as the sorbettos go, our customers can’t believe these delicious, creamy and smooth treats are 100% dairy free.
About Our Environmentally Friendly Packaging
Gemma distributes its gelato and sorbetto in aluminum screw-top containers. Our packaging is the most environmentally friendly of all packaging materials. Aluminum is not only the most abundant metal on earth, but it is essentially 100% recyclable. There is no loss of material or quality when aluminum is recycled.
To explain, instead of ending up in a landfill, our containers get recycled, while using only 5% of the energy used to generate it, with virtually no CO2 emissions in the process. Recycling paper, plastic and glass requires 30 – 60% of the initial energy required to produce it. However, it takes as little as 60 days for an aluminum container to be used, recycled, reproduced and placed on grocery store shelves again.
As an alternative, our containers may be machine washed and reused as storage or other functional purposes if not recycled. Our insulated shipping boxes are also completely recyclable. We include a call tag with each shipment so that the insulated box may be shipped back to us and recycled or reused.