Morelli Ice Cream is the 'Champion of Champions'

Morelli's vanilla ice cream in Northern Ireland has been voted Champion of Champions by the influential Ice Cream Alliance, the trade body for the UK's £1 billion ice cream industry.

Morelli's , a family-based business at Coleraine in County Derry, gained the recognition in a major competition run by the trade body.

Zelica Carr, chief executive officer of the Ice Cream Alliance, says the Morelli's vanilla ice cream was "outstanding" and could rightly claim to be the " best of the best".

The Morelli family, originally from Italy, has been making ice cream in Northern Ireland for over 100 years.

Director Arnaldo Morelli, whose great uncle Pietro started the business, says: "This is the ultimate honour - we are all so proud. It is a marvellous recognition of the outstanding quality of our ice cream, which has been part of the fabric of Northern Ireland for generations."

The business produces 50 different flavours of ice cream at its Coleraine factory. It supplies hotels and restaurants, as well as Tesco supermarkets across Northern Ireland, the Republic of Ireland and Scotland.