About us

Barbara Bettera brings a solid scientific background to the world of gelato, developed through studies in Pharmaceutical Chemistry and Technology, which allows her to see gelato not only as an artisan product, but as a complex system of ingredients, temperatures, balances and transformations.

After experience in the family bar, in 2013 she opened Il Gelato di Barbara in Rivolta d’Adda, building her path through study, experimentation and constant attention to the quality of raw materials, recipe stability and nutritional characteristics.

During her career she has twice won the prestigious Coppa d’Oro della Gelateria: in 2019 with hazelnut and in 2022 with Malaga. Her gelateria has also earned Two Cones from Gambero Rosso and was listed among Italy’s best gelaterias by the guide Il Golosario.

Her approach starts from the scientific understanding of ingredients and their interactions: sugars, fats, proteins, fiber and water are analyzed and balanced to determine structure, creaminess, shelf life and taste perception.

Alongside these skills she combines analytical and communicative ability, turning complex problems into clear, applicable solutions.

For several years she has trained and advised gelato makers in Italy and abroad through the Bettera Method, an approach that integrates scientific knowledge, method and practical application.

Within Gelato 51 she brings scientific rigor, analytical capacity and clarity in teaching, contributing to research and product formulation.

Understanding how every ingredient behaves means turning an intuition into a precise, stable and repeatable result.

Andrea Cabano brings together two experiences that only seem distant: information technology and artisan gelato. Before becoming a gelato maker he worked for many years in technology as a programmer and entrepreneur, developing a deep ability to analyze processes, spot inefficiencies and turn complex problems into simple, concrete solutions.

In 2014 he chose to change life and dedicate himself fully to Gelateria Stella Marina in La Spezia, bringing into the lab the same method used in software development: observe, measure, experiment and continuously improve.

His gelato path led him to third place at the 51st Coppa d’Oro della Gelateria with a Monterosso lemon sorbet, and to Stella Marina’s inclusion in the Gambero Rosso Guide to Italian Gelaterias. In 2026 he was also selected among the master gelato makers of the Sherbeth International Artisan Gelato Festival.

For Andrea a gelateria is not only a lab where a good product is created, but a system of recipes, people, production, stock, costs, organization and daily decisions. Every step can be studied and improved to reduce errors, limit waste and make quality constant and replicable.

From this vision Alfredo 51 was born, the management software he conceived and developed from the real needs of his own gelateria. A tool that integrates recipes, balancing, production, food cost, traceability, inventory, shifts, training and economic analysis, turning everyday work data into useful decision-making information.

Within Gelato 51, Andrea mainly brings his competence in process analysis and organization, business management and applying new technologies to the gelato maker’s work.

Because innovating does not mean replacing the artisan with a machine, but freeing them from repetitive tasks and giving them better tools to express their talent.

Roberto Coletti has worked in gelato for over 30 years. For 24 years he was owner of Roberto Gelato in the Netherlands, a project built from scratch that grew through new flavors, innovative ideas, events, communication and marketing, becoming a reference point in the Dutch gelato scene.

During his career Roberto earned first, second and fourth place at the Coppa d’Oro della Gelateria, one of the sector’s most prestigious competitions, and brought his business repeatedly to the attention of media and major national TV networks.

In 2026 Roberto Gelato was transferred to new management, marking the start of a new chapter in Roberto’s life.

Today his focus goes beyond product quality alone. Making excellent gelato is essential, but a gelateria must also know how to sell, communicate and create value in the customer’s mind.

His work and research concentrate on the relationship between real quality and perceived quality, on image, communication and neuromarketing applied to gelato, also exploring the new possibilities offered by Artificial Intelligence.

Because the best product is not always the one the customer perceives as such.

Roberto Galligani entered the world of gelato almost by chance. In 1988 he accepted a seasonal job in a lab, without imagining that experience would become his profession and a fundamental part of his life.

Just one year later he opened Casa del Gelato in Albenga, turning a newly discovered passion into a family business he has run since 1989 with his wife Anna, their children and collaborators.

In more than thirty-five years Roberto has developed a precise idea of artisan gelato: a product must be technically balanced and pleasant, but it must also have its own identity, recognizable through ingredients, territory and the choices the gelato maker makes every day.

His research starts from selecting raw materials and working directly with small producers and artisans. Roberto does not expect nature to return identical fruit every year: he accepts variability, studies it and adapts recipes to make the most of what each season offers.

For this reason, in his gelateria seasonality is not a slogan but a concrete choice. Flavors follow nature’s calendar and also become a way to tell customers about ingredient origins, producers’ work and the research behind every tub.

His ability to interpret the territory also emerges in more original creations. From Ingauno, a macadamia cream with berries, to the gastronomic gelato with Albenga spiny artichoke, Roberto uses gelato to create new links between local tradition, cuisine and experimentation.

During his career he has earned important awards: in 2014 he won “Mille idee per un nuovo gusto – Gelato of the Year” with Etrusco; in 2017 he took third place at the Sherbeth Festival with Ingauno; and in 2021 he finished second at the 51st Coppa d’Oro della Gelateria with lemon. Casa del Gelato also earned Two Cones from Gambero Rosso for seven consecutive years.

Despite his experience, Roberto keeps the desire to compare, experiment and keep learning. He sees the gelato maker’s craft as a profession with strong social value: work that builds relationships, tells a territory’s story and gives people a moment of serenity.

Within Gelato 51, Roberto brings his deep knowledge of raw materials, sensitivity to seasonality and the ability to turn an ingredient into a flavor with a precise identity.

Because truly artisan gelato does not come from an immutable formula, but from the ability to observe, taste and understand what nature provides.

Giuseppe Zerbato has worked in artisan gelato since 1990, when he opened his first gelateria, Il Gelataio, in Valdagno. Since then he has built a path of daily experience, continuous training and the search for the fullest natural expression of taste.

His knowledge passes first of all through the hands. Giuseppe has that artisan sensitivity that is hard to teach: he recognizes the right texture, senses a balance and turns simple raw materials into products that surprise. Gelato, sorbets, semifreddos and pastry creations become precise, elegant and immediately recognizable in his hands.

Alongside this extraordinary manual skill he has a particularly refined palate, able to distinguish ingredient nuances and build balanced pairings. His research never aims at effect for its own sake, but at creating a full, intense and persistent taste in which every element has a precise function.

In 2017 Giuseppe won the 48th Coppa d’Oro della Gelateria with almond. In 2023 he also won the first World Cup of Panettone Summer Edition, impressing a jury chaired by Iginio Massari with a creation judged for taste, structure, serving temperature, clean cut and aesthetics.

These awards perfectly tell his way of working: Giuseppe does not stop at making something good; he cares for every detail so that flavor, texture and presentation speak the same language.

His gelateria in Piazza Roma, Valdagno, with an open production lab, expresses this philosophy of transparency and authenticity: showing the work, valuing raw materials and letting customers see how much competence is behind every product.

Within Gelato 51, Giuseppe brings more than thirty-five years of experience, extraordinary practical skill, refined taste and an innate aesthetic sense. He is the reference who can observe a creation, taste it and immediately understand what it needs to become truly special.

Because some professionals correctly apply a technique. Giuseppe, instead, has the rare talent of giving light to everything that passes through his hands.