It is noticeable that summer is approaching in Barcelona, if it hasn't started already, and that this season the influx of tourists will return to pre-pandemic levels. It is not surprising that, in recent weeks, two ice cream brands have landed in the city, strategically located in the center, where they have found premises that would have been difficult to obtain before covid. Badiani and Lucciano's are the new brands, both with different origins and proposals.
Leonardo Ongaro, senior business coordinator at Badiani, says that his firm was born almost a hundred years ago in Florence, a city where he points out that ice cream was invented and, consequently, their artisanal ice creams have spent years surrounded by a lot of competition. Nodding to this origin, the brand offers the original recipe of the first ice cream that existed, very simple, with only four flavors. And, adapting to their new location, they have created one "with Barcelona flavor", with the colors of the Catalan flag obtained from white chocolate with turmeric and raspberry. For Sant Jordi, when they opened their doors, they also devised an ice cream for the occasion, made from cream and eggs with chocolate and caramel sauce, topped with wafer flowers. These three will be some of the more than 100 flavors that can be tasted in their establishment.
Badiani began its international expansion recently, arriving in London in 2015, after having consolidated itself in its country of origin. Spain is the second market in which they have settled. "If it works in London, with a horrible climate, it will also work in places with one more similar to Italy's," says Ongaro. Added to that is the fact that Italians love Barcelona, he remarks.
The brand has invested around 300,000 euros in its first premises in the city, located in Rosselló with Paseo de Gràcia. The staff consists of eight workers, six of whom are in the premises and two in the workshop, visible from the counter so that customers can see the ice cream production process. To set up the establishment, they have contacted local suppliers for the supply of some products such as milk. After Barcelona, the Italian company will continue its expansion throughout the rest of Catalonia and the Spanish coast. It is also looking for new premises in the Catalan capital.
Badiani's ice cream parlor in Rosselló has been open for two weeks, but this Friday a new competitor has been added with Lucciano's, on the corner of Rambla Catalunya and Gran Via. Christian Otero is the founder of this Argentine firm, which emerged in the city of Mar del Plata as a hobby shared with his father in 2011. His commitment is to "offer the best artisanal ice cream and a completely different experience." In their premises in the Catalan capital, they have simulated the interior of a spaceship, hanging an astronaut from the ceiling. Once inside, you can choose from more than forty flavors and popsicles.
Lucciano's commitment is to "offer the best artisanal ice cream and a completely different experience," simulating a spaceship in its Barcelona store.What started as a family pastime grew and expanded throughout Argentina, where it concentrates most of its 60 establishments, and then began its internationalization. Two years ago they arrived in the United States, where they already have two locations and next month will add five more, and then came Uruguay and Italy and now Spain.
Barcelona has been their first stop, with an investment of more than 600,000 euros and the hiring of 18 workers, but next month they will already be in Malaga. They want to expand throughout Europe, but their focus is on the Spanish market, as long as they find suitable locations. In the Catalan capital, which they value for its good climate and demand for artisanal ice cream, they do not rule out having more than one point of sale.