&Ice: The 2 friends who left Ukraine and now produce delicious ice cream in Thessaloniki

A strong friendship and an even stronger common passion for pure, quality ice cream started over two years ago in Thessaloniki.

Azrakov Maksym and Vasyanovych Yuriy, two very good friends from Ukraine, left their everyday lives behind shortly before the war broke out in their country to settle permanently in Thessaloniki to produce and distribute their ice cream in Northern Greece.

They created premium creamy and sorbet ice creams, known to Thessalonians as Chillato and Hotly. They opened their small production unit in Greece's second-largest city and emphasised the philosophy of quality raw materials.

"The idea started from our children's love for ice cream," Maksym explains. "This got us thinking about what we could offer our children so that it would be both pure and delicious. And just like that, we joined forces and &Ice was born."

From Koukaki Farm to Indian Tropical Mango Farms

To my question about what gives an ice cream its quality, Yuriy's answer is unequivocal: “But of course, good raw materials. Of course, know-how also plays its role, but the difference, in essence, is made by good milk, strictly selected fruits, but also chocolate, sugar, nuts."

These very raw materials enter the microscope of the search of Yuri and Maksym, who choose to use daily fresh cow's milk from the Koukaki farm, genuine Italian mascarpone and Sicilian pistachio (from the Bronde region), authentic Belgian Callebaut chocolate and Madagascar vanilla (Vanille de Bourbon), raw demerara cane sugar, and the famous Alphonso variety mangoes that travel from India directly to Thessaloniki.

The product range includes eight different flavours: four creamy ones based on milk (pistachio, Madagascar vanilla, cappuccino, and espresso with chocolate) and four sorbets made from real fruit (combinations with blackberries and wild strawberries, mango and passion fruit, blackberry and mint, pineapple and yuzu).

But why did they focus only on sticks?

"Although ice cream sticks are particularly popular with tourists, they are also more friendly to transport and consume," he explains. "They are quite misunderstood in your country. So, we wanted to restore this negative image and prove that it is not the shape of the ice cream that matters but its quality and taste. Plus, sticks are more fun and playful."

Drink and ice cream 2 in 1

And while Chillato in our consciousness is now directly associated with the Mediterranean summer, the Hotly sticks take us back to winter and those icy days when our appetite seeks hot, sweet and aromatic drinks.

"Basically," Maksym explains, "it's a completely new proposition in drinks that combines hot and cold. We fill our glass with hot water, add the Hotly stick with the flavour of our liking and mix slightly until our sorbet dissolves in the water. So simple."

The flavours and the selling points

Hotly is made from 100% natural ingredients, such as fruit, berries, and herbs, and contains no added sugar. Their frozen form helps to retain maximum nutrients.

The flavour choices can easily put us in dilemmas until we finally end up with our favourite: mango or peach with passion fruit, blueberries with mint or spices, gooseberry with basil, and sea buckthorn with ginger and orange.

In addition to northern Greece, Ice sticks are sold in Crete, Rhodes, Mykonos, Santorini, Corfu, and more than 340 locations throughout the country.

Info: VI.PE. Sindou, Thessaloniki, tel. 2310 796.686

Loukia Chrisovitsanou is a columnist for Cantina. Translated by Paul Antonopoulos.

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