Rodolfo Colpi, emigrated to Scotland from Colpi, a small hamlet in the Dolomite mountains in the Trentino region of north eastern Italy, in 1907.
Initially he worked with the Rossi family at The Bay Cafe in Gourock and learned how to make ice cream.
He returned to Italy to fight on the Austrian Front during the First World War and was awarded a Croce di Guerra for his bravery.
When he came back to Scotland in 1919 he opened his first cafe in Whiteinch called Criterion Ices.
In 1928, Dolfe, as he became known, moved to Milngavie and opened his shop next to the Douglas Cinema at 40 Main Street.
Rodolfo died in 1959 and his son Rudi carried on the business with his wife, Marie. It was refurbished and expanded and re-named the Allander Cafe – with seating for 42 people. This closed in 1979 and the shop was again named after the family, at 38 Main Street, where it remains today.
From 1984, Martin Colpi, the third generation, joined his father in partnership. In 1990 they opened an ice-cream shop in Newton Mearns and a flagship gelateria in Clydebank.
Rudi died in 2010 and Martin has now been joined by his sister Terri as business development director.
They still use Rodolfo’s recipe and traditional Italian equipment and fresh milk delivered from local farms to make the ice-cream and they don’t add artificial ingredients.
Source: Milngavie & Bearsden Herald: Celebrating times ‘cone’ past at Colpi