Altimate Foods Pty Ltd, Campbellfield, VIC

In 1967, Francesco Rizzo father of Joe, Pat and Michael commenced selling Gelato from a Mobile Gelato van. Francesco was one of the very first Mobile Gelato vendors in his time. He would venture out on weekends, selling ice-creams alongside the beach, parks and various festivals around Melbourne. Eventually, Francesco's influence rubbed off on the boys and they to started showing an interest in mobile gelato vending. The boys ventured out, growing the business to eventually operating 5 mobile vans as well as running kiosks at outdoor swim centres.They ran with the business for some 15 years developing a good understanding of the ice cream market and along the way establishing valuable relationships. The boys, keen to progress, saw an opportunity to form a special partnership which led to the idea of producing ice cream cones. So in 1993 Altimate Foods was established, purchasing its very first semi automatic cone-baking oven. The machine produced their very first cones for 12 months before they decided it was time to invest in a new fully automated plant. In February 1994, the first fully automated plant was set up at Altimate Foods. Up until this time, Altimate foods was producing Single and Double wafer cones. By the year 2000, Altimate foods was now producing a full range of Wafer cones and Dessert Wafers. By 2004 Waffle cones were also introduced into the range. Today, they have 20 different cones of varying shapes and size, as well as a range of flat and rolled wafers. Altimate Foods is today a leader in its industry, currently supplying the major and leading supermarket and restaurant chains, cafes, gelato and juice bars throughout Australia and New Zealand. Other items include packaging, accessories and cone displays for ice cream stores.