A Swansea based ice cream manufacturer has grown its wholesale business after benefiting from a range of Welsh Government funded specialist support. GG’s Gelato has successfully secured SALSA certification with help from the Welsh Government’s HELIX Programme.
Founded in 2019 by local businessman Keith Jones, GG’s Gelato have grown from a single parlour in Penclawdd on the Gower Peninsula to distributing their products to customers across south Wales, including cafes, restaurants, theatres and convenience stores.
Having outgrown the production space available at their parlour, GG’s Gelato expanded into a dedicated manufacturing site in 2024 and purchased new specialist production equipment that would enable them to ramp up production even further.
To drive growth in the wholesale side of their business, the company set about securing SALSA food safety certification and approached ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre at Cardiff Metropolitan University for funded technical support through the Welsh Government’s HELIX Programme.
SALSA is one of the UK’s most trusted food safety certification schemes. It helps smaller manufacturers prove they meet industry-recognised standards, enabling them to supply products to national and regional retailers, wholesalers, and foodservice providers.
ZERO2FIVE initially provided GG’s Gelato with factory design support, helping the company to ensure that their new manufacturing site had the optimum layout to ensure hygienic production. A mentoring action plan was then put in place to bring the company’s food safety management systems in line with the requirements of the SALSA standard. Topics covered included HACCP, pre-requisite controls, and paperwork and procedures, including allergen and supplier risk assessment.
The Welsh Government’s Cywain programme also spent the last year supporting GG’s Gelato, with a focus on elevating their profile and expanding their trade customer base. GG’s Gelato attended Cywain’s webinars and workshops, received one-to-one expert mentoring support, and participated in the Cywain Accelerator programme.
GG’s Gelato successfully passed their SALSA audit in September 2025 and as a result of the support from both the Welsh Government’s HELIX Programme and Cywain programme, they are now able to work with many more wholesale customers and were able to attend Taste Wales / Blas Cymru, Welsh Government’s flagship trade event for the food and drink manufacturing sector.
Speaking about the impact of Welsh Government support on their business, Toby Link-Jones, Operations Manager for GG’s Gelato, said:
“The support from ZERO2FIVE and Cywain will be vital to the next stage of growth for our company.”
“Securing SALSA certification will give bigger wholesale customers the confidence to stock our products whilst the support from Cywain has helped us to open the doors to these distribution channels.”
Professor Peter Sykes, Head of ZERO2FIVE Food Industry Centre, said:
“Certification schemes such as SALSA play a crucial role for Welsh food and drink SMEs aiming to grow their wholesale distribution. If your business is looking to achieve one of these standards then we’d encourage you to get in touch to explore the Welsh Government-funded support that may be available through the HELIX Programme.”
Alex James, Cywain Project Manager, said:
“We take great delight in helping producers to grow in experience and confidence, bringing new products to the marketplace and adding their talents to the Welsh food and drink industry as a whole. Such opportunities are part of Cywain’s portfolio of support available for businesses throughout their growth journey, from day one start-ups to more established enterprises.”
