Dennis Little and his family owned and operated one of Nelson’s most popular “Pick Your Own” berry gardens.  After picking berries, customers would queue to buy a real fruit ice cream with the business often serving around 700 cones per day.

It became apparent that imported ice cream machines lacked the essential reliability and features needed to run this part of the business efficiently.

Dennis teamed up with his brother Chris, a lifelong engineer who specialises in complex equipment for the brewing industry, to create an ice cream machine that was both exceptionally reliable and easy to operate.

The ice cream blender they developed is the “Little Jem”.  The technology and design that makes up the blender is patented in several countries and Little Jem ice cream blenders are being purchased by businesses worldwide.