Avo Lato

Selfridges has launched the UK’s first avocado-flavoured gelato designed to look like the hugely popular fruit.

Avo-lato, launched yesterday (19 April), is set in the original avocado skin with an edible nut butter stone made primarily from peanut butter. It is naturally vegan, dairy-free, gluten-free and refined sugar-free, and has no artificial ingredients. It is made up of 60% dark green or hass avocado, as well as water, grape sugar, fibre and pectin.

In line with Selfridges’ steps to reduce waste and use of plastic, such as its pledge to remove all single-use plastic bottles containing carbonated drinks from its stores earlier this month, Avo-lato comes in 100% biodegradable packaging and creates virtually no waste as it is served in real avocado shells and presented on a bamboo tray.

Avo-lato is exclusively available from the Snowflake Luxury Gelato counter at Selfridges in London and costs £9.50.

The key innovation with Avo-lato was it being served in avocado skin, said Asad Khan, CEO and founder of Snowflake Luxury Gelato. “We saw these lovely avocado skins getting thrown away [during the development process], but they have a rich texture and look great so reusing them was the best way to serve the product. This is especially because of the authenticity it adds and the fact that it connects consumers back to the original fruit.”

He added: “We’re always focusing on innovation and considering what interesting ingredients we can use to make new products. Given how popular avocados are, and the health benefits they provide, we thought it’d be great to make an avocado gelato with a few minimal ingredients. The recipe also happens to be vegan, which is a great plus point. We expect it to be quite popular.”

Selfridges director of food and restaurants Bruce Langlands said: “We like to be at the forefront of the fashionable food trends and the Avo-lato is exactly that. We hope customers choose to cool down during the heatwave with this fantastic new product.”