'Emotional evening': Northern Ireland's oldest ice cream producer scoops top prize at The National Ice Cream Competition

Ireland’s oldest ice cream producer has scooped the top prize at The National Ice Cream Competition 2025. Morelli’s Ice Cream claimed the coveted Overall Champion title at the awards, which were hosted by The Ice Cream Alliance at the Belfry, near Birmingham. The National Ice Cream Competition is hosted by The Ice Cream Alliance annually to showcase the people behind the nation’s most loved ice cream flavours, as well as spotlighting innovation within the industry and the new flavours being created every year. Morelli’s Ice Cream also returned home with first place in the Dairy Vanilla Ice Cream category, first place in the Alternative Class for its Cherry Yoghurt flavour and Best of the Best for its double cream vanilla ice cream. Morelli’s Ice Cream was established in 1911 by Peter Morelli. Since then, the brand has flourished and expanded. The company currently has five family-run outlets and eleven branded stores in Northern Ireland as well as supplying Tesco, Dunnes Stores, Sainsbury’s, M&S and various independent retailers across the UK and Ireland.

Speaking on the company’s category-spanning wins, Daniela Morelli-Kerr from Morelli’s Ice Cream, said: “Winning Overall Champion at The National Ice Cream Competition means everything to us, and we’re over-the-moon to have won in multiple other categories.

"Dairy Vanilla Ice Cream is one of the hardest classes to win and the standard of competition was high, so to have won in that category and received Best of the Best for the same ice cream is incredible. “The awards ceremony was an emotional evening for us all because of that. It’s always nice to come away with something from competitions but we never expect to because the standard is so high in the industry. It was a special night, and everyone there – including our team – should be proud of themselves.” Catherine McNeil, director of operations for The Ice Cream Alliance, added: “With over 80 years of history, our national event is a highlight of the year for us. We pride ourselves on our rigorous judging process and the recognition of the highest standards and innovations in the ice cream sector, so I wish to congratulate The Morelli Family and the whole team from Morelli’s Ice Cream for impressing us to the point of crowning them Overall Champion. “Through our trade association activities, passionate ice cream makers like Morelli’s Ice Cream are honoured for pushing the industry forward to a more delicious future.”