Alex Lyle, Colin and Andrew Cunningham behind some of their award-winning ice-creams
COLIN CUNNINGHAM is used to winning awards for his ice-creams and gelati, and many trek to his Colin James store in the main street of Maleny, not only to try his quality desserts, but sample his extraordinary range of cheeses, relax with a light meal or a perfect espresso coffee.
Now Colin and his team have surpassed their own expectations by scooping the pool and winning 17 awards from 17 entries at the Royal Queensland Food and Wine Show.
This year the RNA held its dairy produce section in conjunction with the Queensland wine show and it was in the dairy produce section that Colin and his team won Gold for their Strawberry, Berry Delight, Passionfruit, Macadamia, Passionfruit Cheesecake, Lychee Ginger & Chocolate, and the very yummy Espresso Coffee.
They were also awarded silver for their Vanilla, Rich Chocolate Cherry, Banana, Hazelnut, Pistachio, Coconut, White Chocolate and Raspberry, Chocolate Aniseed and Fig and almond flavours. The Passionfruit cheesecake ice-cream tied for first place in the ice-cream and gelato section achieving 56 points which was the highest score awarded in that section.
“Winning awards has been very important to the growth of Colin James since we opened in 2001” says Colin, “and I am proud of the fact that not only have those awards been good for us and our reputation, but they have been good for Maleny too in helping to put the town on the tourist map. Every day we get customers from outside the region who have driven here especially to visit our store, having heard about our reputation for award-winning products.”
“My real passion is attention to detail and a focus on quality in everything we do”, adds Colin. “This starts with the best quality ingredients that make all the difference to the final product and where possible, using locally sourced ingredients whether it’s local milk, local bread made to my own recipe, or the locally smoked ham we use in our sandwiches, so everyone benefits.”
Health wise, the past year has been a challenge for Colin Cunningham who has undergone surgery for two hip replacements. He was also out of action for ten weeks in the lead-up to the awards with a broken arm following a cycling accident.
“We were very fortunate that local chef Alex Lyle was able to literally take over my job over the last ten months. Leading up to the awards with me out of action, my son Andrew and Alex shared the responsibility for making all the products we entered in the show. All I could really do was look over their shoulder and put them on the right path in terms of presentation, which is a very important aspect when it comes to judging. This wonderful result is a great team effort and the hard work and attention to detail from everyone has really paid off for all of us.”
The Colin James business has grown to such an extent that Colin is now creating a purpose-built factory to increase their capacity to manufacture product and keep up with client demand.
In the meantime pop in and try one of their amazing new flavours…the passionfruit cheesecake is to die for.
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