The Zanni Story
From a Single Cart to the World Stage
A master gelato chef's obsession with perfection became the standard every ZANNI machine is built to meet.
01
It Started with a Cart
Kimberly Zanni didn't start with a factory or a business plan. She started with a gelato cart, a recipe she'd been perfecting for years, and the conviction that Americans deserved real Italian gelato. She pushed that cart through farmers markets, festivals, and street corners — learning what customers wanted, what the craft demanded, and what the equipment available simply couldn't deliver.
02
Building a Brand
What began as a one-woman operation grew into a nationally recognized gelato brand. Kim built her distribution network the same way she built her recipes — with patience, precision, and an uncompromising standard for quality. As the business scaled, so did her frustration with the equipment on the market. Machines that couldn't hold temperature. Controls that were built for engineers, not chefs. Hardware that failed under the pressure of real production.
03
Italy Changed Everything
Kim traveled to Italy not as a tourist, but as a competitor. She trained and competed alongside the world's finest gelato masters — absorbing the techniques, the standards, and the philosophy that separates artisan gelato from everything else. She saw firsthand what professional-grade Italian equipment could do. And she came home with a clear mission: build that machine for the American market.
04
ZANNI Gelato Professionals
Every machine in the ZANNI lineup was designed by someone who has stood behind the machine — who has made gelato in a real kitchen, under real pressure, for real customers. The specs aren't theoretical. The features aren't marketing. They are the direct result of years of professional experience, distilled into equipment that performs the way a master chef expects.
"
I built the machine I always needed. The one that didn't exist when I was starting out.
— Kimberly Zanni, Founder