S. Luca Ice Cream Parlour, Musselburgh

S. Luca of Musselburgh was founded in 1908 by Luca Scappaticcio who arrived from Casino in Italy in the late 1800s. Today, the Scappaticcio family is still very much part of the firm and several members of the third generation are taking the firm into the 21 st century. Day-to-day running of the business is handled by Michael Luca.

S. Luca has two ice cream parlours: one in Musselburgh just outside Edinburgh and one in Edinburgh's prestigious Morningside. It also supplies outlets in Edinburgh and the surrounding areas.

The ice cream is made to a family recipe as old as the company itself and is renowned throughout the east coast of Scotland. They use locally sourced milk, butter and double cream and take pride in supporting the local economy.

Until recently, S. Luca was using batch freezers that were up to 50 years old. The freezers had given many years of sterling service, but needed to be replaced as they were fast becoming more difficult and expensive to repair. Michael turned to us for help.

Michael has worked with us for several years, because, as he says, “You used to be in the same business as we’re in, so you know what you’re doing.” We suggested the Eurogel 1200 – Corema’s largest vertical batch freezer as a suitable replacement. Each batch freezer can freeze up to 6 napolis (27 litres of ice cream) to –12C before extraction, so meets Michael’s needs. Not only that, they have a smaller footprint than the original freezers, making them more space-efficient.

To give him the opportunity to assess the freezers before investing, we loaned him one to test for a few weeks. The trial was a success and Michael subsequently replaced his old freezers.

The Corema batch freezers were a direct replacement for S. Luca’s old ones, so the investment hasn’t revolutionised their business. On the other hand, Michael reports they are more efficient and do twice the amount of work in the same amount of time as the old freezers – a great help in the height of the season!