Bexhill café owner scoops award in national ice cream contest

A Bexhill café owner has scooped an award in a national competition.
Luigi Di PaoloLuigi Di Paolo
Luigi Di Paolo

Luigi Di Paolo, from Di Paolo’s in Marina, took part in the Ice Cream Alliance’s annual contest.

Luigi has participated in the competition in previous years, taking home various awards.

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His family has also been making Italian style ice cream for more than a century.

The national contest sees ice cream manufacturers and sellers from across the UK competing in numerous classes.

Luigi said: “This year I finished second in the raspberry sorbet class.

“This is my highest finish to date. Last year my chocolate finished fourth nationally and vanilla just inside the 
top 10.

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“As you can imagine I am very pleased, so happy that we finished so high.

“This is our first bit of silverware since great-grandad Lorenzo Di Marco (of Di Marco bros, Hastings) won Gold medal first prize in the competition in 1934.

“We as a family have been making Italian style ice cream since great-grandad Lorenzo arrived here in the UK in the late 1890s – over a 100-year history.

“He started by selling ice cream from a kart on Beachy Head in Eastbourne, working with his cousin Alfredo at Seaside Road, Eastbourne.

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“They would make the ice cream on the premises and then Lorenzo would push the kart to the top of Beachy Head and sell from there.

“Lorenzo then left his cousin Alfredo in Eastbourne and went on to open the well-known Di Marco Bros Cafe at Wellington Place, Hastings.

“The competition is run by the Ice Cream Alliance, the UK’s offical trade association for ice cream manufacturers and retailers.

“It is highly competitive and receives entries from all over the UK, including Scotland, Wales and Northern Ireland.

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“So to finish so high against families who also have such rich long-established history in ice cream is a real achievement.”

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