TWO major Isle of Wight ice cream companies may have the local market licked.
Minghella and the Isle of Wight Ice Cream Company have gone into partnership and pooled their expertise.
Minghella will retain its brand name under the Isle of Wight Ice Cream Company umbrella and will use the enterprise's facility at Riverway, Newport.
By sharing one base, overheads are reduced, with the biggest 'green' benefit being the delivery logistics.
Now in its fourth year of trading, the IW Ice Cream Company boasts 30 flavours named after Island villages.
The Minghella family has made gourmet ice cream on the Island since Edward founded it in 1950 and has a portfolio of 230 flavours.
Gioia Minghella and her husband, Richard, had been working with Jenny Simmons and her team at The IW Ice Cream Company to ensure their ice cream was made to their authentic Italian recipes and replicated in the company's production unit.
Both brands will use milk from Read's Farm in Carisbrooke and Medina Foodservice, based beside them at Riverway, will take care of deliveries, to significantly reduce food mileage.
Minghella's has won more than 80 Great Taste Awards and other top accolades.