A gelato business that began at kiosks in a couple of Miami shopping malls and nearly perished at the onset of the COVID-19 pandemic has transformed into a grocery store brand juggernaut — one that soon will be making and distributing its products from Fort Myers.
Gelatys Artisanal Gelato plans to build a Gelatys factory in Fort Myers, leasing a 23,750-square-foot warehouse.
Jorana NNN No 4 LLC, a company tied to The Apollo Group in Miami, paid $5.6 million in August for the warehouse and 5 acres at 4840 Laredo Ave., west of Ortiz Avenue, north of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. Boulevard and south of Luckett Road, in an industrial area of Fort Myers, property records show. The warehouse previously was used by Water One, which for about 30 years printed and labeled private brands on plastic water bottles.
Brokers Bob Johnston, Frank Martone and Jerry Messonnier of Lee & Associates Naples-Fort Myers brokered the deal on behalf of the sellers.
State-of-the-art gelato-making equipment is being stored inside the future Gelatys factory in Fort Myers, awaiting assembly once permitting and renovations are complete.
David Dorsey
State-of-the-art gelato-making equipment is being stored at the otherwise empty warehouse for assembly when the building is ready, said Adolfo Heller, a native of Chile who founded Gelatys in 2016 in Miami.
In 2020, when the pandemic shut down shopping malls, Heller shifted his company’s business model. At the time, Gelatys sold its products at Sawgrass Mills and Dolphin Mall in Miami.
“When the malls closed, I moved all my business to supermarkets,” Heller said. “Now, we are in 5,000 locations in 26 states. Now, we are in Whole Foods, Fresh Market, Kroger. We are in a lot of different supermarket chains. We are growing really fast.
“We are so excited because we are in the middle of growing. We need more production. Your side (of the state) is going to be great. We’re going to have two facilities and will be able to grow.”
There are about 50 employees at the Miami gelato factory, and there will be about 75 in Fort Myers, Heller said.
“We do it all on a machine,” he said. “We are in the middle of permitting and everything. We need more production. We need more space. We have a lot of growing pains.”
Gelatys comes in multiple forms and flavors. Served on a stick (“Pops”), there’s Very Berry, Chocolate Volcano, Super Dulce de Leche, Passion Mango, Coconut Breeze and more.
Served as Bonbons, there’s Greek Yogurt dipped in white Belgian chocolate with blueberry sauce, Very Berry, Chocolate Volcano and Cookies & Cream, among others.
“We’re bringing in more technology to try to produce faster with more efficiency,” Heller said. “We want to grow. We want to be No. 1 in the gelato industry in the nation.”