A GELATO and coffee shop in Hoylake has been named among the top food and drink producers globally for one of their ice cream flavours.

Chris Jones, and her daughter Phoebe (27), from Hoylake, opened Churn & Chill in June 2021. They were inspired to open the shop after losing Alex, Phoebe's sister and Chris' daughter to breast cancer in 2016 at the age of 26.

Chris said: "Alex was such a beautiful and radiant person and continues to inspire us to keep her spirit alive.

"We have a deep appreciation for life’s small pleasures, and we wanted to be able to share that with our customers through great-tasting gelato and coffee.

"Apart from a massive love of ice cream and coffee, Hoylake also didn't have a specialist ice cream shop so we thought we could do with one here."

The shop, on Grove Road, serves a range of gelatos and coffee. Their Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt flavour has been awarded a highly prized three-star Great Taste award this year.

The awards were announced on Monday (July 31) after more than 500 judges took part in blind taste tests to rate the quality of food producers across the country.

More than 14,000 food and drink products from 109 countries were assessed over the course of 89 judging days in London and Dorset, and only 1.8% (243) of them were awarded three stars.

The awards organised by the Guild of Fine Food will judge products made anywhere in the world.

The Dark Chocolate and Sea Salt gelato, which is vegan, was described by the Great Taste judges as a "real delight". It said the "texture is excellent" and the "salt adds a wonderful pop of surprise".

Chris added: "We are beyond delighted about the award. 

"Everything we make is from scratch. We don't use any pre-mixed or powders. Phoebe does all of the balancing and I throw it into the machine.

"The flavour is beyond anything, it is just lovely. Phoebe has worked really had to balance it and she has now perfected the recipe."