Although ice cream originated in Italy, it's origins go back to classic antiquity, when the Greeks and Romans used to savour fruit purees mixed with snow and sweetened with honey.

The father of modern ice cream was a 15th century Florentine architect, Bernado Buontalenti , but Italian ice-cream first took off abroad when a Palermo entrepreneur, Francesco Procopio dei Coltelli, opened an innovative café in Paris during the rein of Luigi XIV, the Sun King.

The success of ice-cream proved to be unstoppable and its production was eventally mechanized, however to this day about half of Italian production can be attributed to artisan-produced ice creams, recognized to be the best in Europe, true masters in the art of making ice-cream.

Balios is a hand-crafted Italian ice cream, artisan-produced in South Africa and the Baglios recipes have been handed down from generation to generation. The Barbaglia family, owners and founders of the Baglios brand in South Africa are trained master Italian ice cream makers who craft their ice cream using only the finest quality ingredients. They learned the art of gelato by the traditional way of apprenticeship, studying under Italian ice-cream artisans and highly qualified food technicians. They have developed their skills to a point where they are no longer reliant on overseas companies for product support or ingredients and are able to manufacture the innovative, tantalizing Baglios flavours themselves.

After years of experience developing production methods, recipes, machinery, store designs, training and location profiles, Baglios has developed an attractive and profitable Franchise business opportunity. Please refer to our FRANCHISE section for further details.


The art of Italian indulgence.