Pietro Campopiano moved from Monte Cassino to Shotts in 1897.
He began business as a wine importer but soon spotted a better business opportunity in Shotts, in those days a thriving coal and shale mining village, and opened an Italian cafe to offer coffee and home-made ice-cream.
Five generations of the Campopiano family ran the firm until 2003. The company had a payroll of 32.
Camp Brothers ice-cream business was taken over by Nethervale and The Caledonian Food Company in 2003 when it went into receivership.
Camp Brothers was one of the largest independent ice-cream makers in Scotland, supplying restaurants and the Farmfoods supermarket chain.
Peter Camp, managing director and a fifth-generation member of the family which has run the business, spoke of the demise of the firm founded by his great-great grandfather.
Peter Camp’s father, Harry, was proud of how his grandfather Pietro’s business blossomed to support 11 sons and their families, including a now-closed second cafe business in Govan, on the south side of Glasgow.
Two addresses for Campopiano are given in the Censimento – 154 Station Road and 4 Station Road. Today the latter is a Chinese Takeaway. The former the Benkaz Italian Restaurant.
The factory was in Gilburn Place, Shotts
