Il Laboratorio del Gelato

What Il Laboratorio del Gelato does

Il Laboratorio del Gelato is a Manhattan-based, founder-owned artisanal gelato and sorbet producer founded by Jon Snyder in August 2002 on the Lower East Side. The company operates six retail storefronts — three in New York City (Lower East Side, Upper East Side, and Lab U at University Place), two in New Jersey (Hoboken and Upper Montclair), and one international location in Shanghai, China — alongside a wholesale program that supplies hand-crafted gelato to NYC metro restaurants, caterers, and gourmet shops.

Its core product is hand-crafted gelato and sorbet produced using the traditional Italian slow-churn method, which incorporates less air than American ice cream, yielding a denser texture and higher flavor concentration. The company maintains a flavor library approaching 300 varieties, developed in collaboration with NYC-area chefs, and processes fresh ingredients in-house (juicing citrus, roasting nuts, steeping coffees, seeding vanilla beans). Sorbets are made with fresh fruit, cane sugar, and minimal water, without stabilizers or egg whites. The broader portfolio includes custom and signature gelato cakes, branded merchandise (t-shirts, Zeroll scoops, cooler bags), digital gift cards, and a curated $110 gift pack.

The business operates a hybrid go-to-market model: direct-to-consumer retail at storefronts, e-commerce pre-order for in-store pickup with GrubHub delivery integration, a dedicated catering vertical via catergelato.com, and a chef-driven B2B wholesale channel with weekday delivery to NYC metro accounts including Balaboosta, The Little Owl, Vic's, Shuka, Rosie's, and Cookshop. Pricing is unit-based — $19.50 per 20 oz take-out container, cakes from $59, gift packs at $110, merchandise $5–$22 — with no subscription or enterprise contract model disclosed.

Name

Il Laboratorio del Gelato

Legal name

Il Laboratorio del Gelato

Website

https://laboratoriodelgelato.com

Company type

Private

Founded year

2002

Operating status

Operating

Headcount range

11–50 employees

Short description

Il Laboratorio del Gelato is a founder-owned, NYC-based artisanal gelato and sorbet producer operating six retail storefronts across New York, New Jersey, and Shanghai, alongside a B2B wholesale program supplying hand-crafted frozen desserts to NYC metro restaurants and chefs.

Ownership category

akta.pro rank

Product category

Artisanal Gelato and Sorbet

NAICS

Ice Cream and Frozen Dessert Manufacturing (31152)

SIC

Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts (2024)

akta.pro primary industry

Gelato Manufacturing (AFAHAEAD)

akta.pro secondary industries

Ice Cream & Gelato Shops (THAFAGAA), Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts Wholesale (AFAIAHAC)

Keywords

• Artisanal gelato production
• Handcrafted frozen desserts
• Ice cream retail
• Wholesale dessert supply
• Sorbet manufacturing

Headquarters

HQ city

New York

HQ country

United States

HQ region

North America

Offices6 records

Markets served

GTM type

B2B and B2C

Offering type

Hardware or Manufacturing

Cost components

Operations, Supply Chain, Personnel, Infrastructure, Marketing or Sales

Revenue model

1. Retail Gelato and Sorbet Sales: Direct-to-consumer sales of gelato and sorbet by the scoop, in take-out containers (20 oz), sundaes, and shakes at retail storefront locations.
2. Wholesale to Restaurants: B2B wholesale supply of hand-crafted gelato to NYC metro area restaurants, caterers, and gourmet shops with weekday delivery service.
3. Custom Gelato Cakes: Custom and signature gelato/sorbet cakes including 'il lab', Italian classics ('il sorbetto', 'la noce', 'il caffe'), and fully custom cakes.
4. Merchandise: Branded merchandise including t-shirts, gelato scoops (Zeroll), cooler bags, and gift cards.
5. Catering Services: Catering services for events through dedicated catering website (catergelato.com).

Pricing tiers

Go-to-market motion3 records

Distribution channels5 records

Marketing channels5 records

Core offering

Il Laboratorio del Gelato is an artisanal gelato and sorbet producer that manufactures approximately 300 hand-crafted flavors using a traditional Italian slow-churn method at its Lower East Side kitchen. The company operates as both a retail chain with five physical storefronts in NYC, NJ, and Shanghai selling scoops, take-out containers, cakes, shakes, and merchandise, and as a B2B wholesale supplier providing hand-crafted gelato and sorbet to NYC metro area restaurants, caterers, and gourmet shops.

Product overview

Il Laboratorio del Gelato is a hand-crafted gelato and sorbet company operating as both a retail chain and wholesale supplier. The core offerings include artisanal gelato (~300 flavors) and sorbet made using the traditional Italian slow-churn method. The product portfolio encompasses retail products (gelato/sorbet by the scoop, take-out containers, signature gift packs), cakes (signature 'Il Lab' cake, Italian classic cakes, custom gelato cakes), merchandise (t-shirts, Zeroll scoops, cooler bags, gift cards), and a wholesale program for restaurants and chefs in the NY metro area. All products are handmade in small batches in their Lower East Side kitchen.

Differentiator

Problem solved

Functional benefit

Products and services

• Hand-Crafted Gelato

Named customers5 records

Segments3 records

Ideal customer profiles3 records

Technology focussed No

API detail

Has API

No

API docs

API detail

Core technology

AI maturity

App detail

Integration1 record

Feature3 records

Partnerships

Five partnerships are on record, tiered core and minor.

• Balaboosta (Einat Admony)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRestaurant wholesale partnership since over 13 years. Einat Admony, Owner/Chef sources hand-crafted gelato for restaurant desserts. Quote confirms inability to match quality of Il Laboratorio del gelato.
• The Little Owl (Joey Campanaro)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorRestaurant wholesale partnership since 2006. Multiple Joey Campanaro restaurants source seasonal gelato flavors for menus. Commended for thoughtful, delicious, consistent quality with seasonal variety.
• Vic's, Shuka, Rosie's, Cookshop (Marc Meyer)coreChannel Partner/ Reseller/ DistributorMultiple restaurant wholesale accounts under chef Marc Meyer. Praised for absolutely consistent quality, seasonal flavor variety, and owner accessibility via phone, text, or email.
• NYC Area ChefscoreStrategic or Co-development PartnerCollaborative flavor development with NYC area chefs. Encourages chefs to work with company to develop unique flavors for their menus. Custom flavor creation is a core part of company mission.
• La Colombe Coffee RoastersminorStrategic or Co-development PartnerSource of organically grown, locally roasted espresso beans used for coffee gelato flavors including espresso, mocha, and Turkish coffee varieties.

Scale indicators5 records

Recent moves6 records

Expansion highlights5 records

Direct peers

• Salt & Straw Ice Cream: Salt & Straw is a Portland-originated, scoop-shop-driven artisanal ice cream chain that has expanded into California and other major metros with a chef-collaborative flavor model. Its focus on small-batch, inventive flavors positions it as a direct conceptual peer to Il Laboratorio's 300-flavor approach and artisanal ingredient sourcing.
• Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams: Jeni's is a Columbus-based artisanal scoop-shop and grocery-distributed ice cream brand built on chef-driven flavors and direct-to-consumer pint shipping. Its mix of retail shops + wholesale grocery mirrors Il Laboratorio's retail + restaurant-wholesale model and represents the scaled-artisanal benchmark.
• Van Leeuwen Ice Cream: Van Leeuwen is a Brooklyn-based premium ice cream maker that has scaled from NYC scoop shops to national grocery distribution and a national wholesale program. It competes directly with Il Laboratorio for premium scoop-shop customers and restaurant dessert accounts in New York, and represents the scaled-artisanal path Il Laboratorio could pursue.
• Ample Hills Creamery: Ample Hills is a Brooklyn-based artisanal scoop shop whose product model, small-batch flavor development, and expansion trajectory mirror those of Il Laboratorio. Although it has retrenched after prior expansion difficulties, it remains a directly comparable NYC artisanal scoop-shop competitor.

Broad incumbents

• Talenti Gelato: Talenti is a national mass-premium gelato brand owned by Unilever, sold through grocery and foodservice channels. It overlaps directly with Il Laboratorio on gelato product and flavor-library positioning but competes in the supermarket channel rather than the chef-driven wholesale and artisanal scoop-shop niche.
• Carvel Ice Cream: Carvel is a long-standing U.S. soft-serve and ice cream cake franchise brand, notably the brand where founder Jon Snyder first learned the craft at his grandparents' shop. It competes in NYC ice cream and custom cake categories but at a mass-market tier rather than artisanal premium.
• Häagen-Dazs: Häagen-Dazs is a global premium-ice-cream brand owned by General Mills, distributed through grocery, scoop shops, and foodservice. While not artisanal, it competes for the same premium-scoop customer and restaurant dessert menu real estate that Il Laboratorio targets.

Emerging players

• Grom Gelato: Grom is an Italian-origin gelato chain with shop locations in Italy and major international cities, emphasizing traditional Italian gelato method and high-quality ingredients. It overlaps with Il Laboratorio's Italian-method, premium positioning and flavor-library approach.

Regional players

• Emack & Bolio's: Emack & Bolio's is a New England-based premium ice cream shop chain with strong brand and cone-and-scoop positioning. Its shop format, custom-cake offerings, and regional concentration compete for the same premium ice cream retail customer as Il Laboratorio in the Northeastern U.S.
• Ciao Bella Gelato Company: Ciao Bella is a separate gelato brand now owned by Unilever/Frontier, founded in 1984 by Jon Snyder and later sold. Although now under different ownership, it shares product category and New York heritage with Il Laboratorio and competes in grocery, foodservice, and gelato-shop formats in overlapping markets.

Market position

Strengths5 records

Weaknesses5 records

Competitive moat4 records

Key risks6 records

Key highlights7 records

Customer concentration

• Facebookfacebook.com/il-laboratorio-del-gelato-112378065860
• Instagraminstagram.com/icecreamlab
• Xx.com/icecreamlab
• LinkedInlinkedin.com/company/il-laboratorio-del-gelato

Revenue estimate

Valuation estimate

Number of profiles

Profiles1 record

Funding overview

Funding rounds

Investors

Funding detail is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

M&A

Investments

M&A and investment is available on the Subscription and Enterprise plan.Contact sales →

Frequently asked questions about Il Laboratorio del Gelato