Mario’s Ice Cream really is the best – and that’s official. It has long been Wales’s best kept secret…until now.

And by scooping the National Ice Cream Alliance’s prestigious silver challenge cup for the best dairy ice cream, Mario’s Ice Cream has clearly licked the rest of the competition throughout Britain.

Founder and managing director Mario Dallavalle, a third generation ice cream maker based at Cross Hands, Carmarthenshire, attributes this success to his "passion and pride" in making ice cream that passes his taste test.

But he admits, too, that the quality of the "good Welsh natural ingredients" he insists on using coupled with his reliance on traditional manufacturing techniques are the aces up his sleeve.

The milk and cream he uses are sourced from within a 15-mile radius of the dairy, from local farms including the award winning Nant-y-Bwla pedigree Jersey herd and the Gwendraeth Valley’s Cwmheidir Farm, gold medal winners at the Royal Welsh Show.

So to order Mario's ice cream, call Castell Howell telesales on 01269 846080 or email orders@chfoods.co.uk