Luther’s Scoops, the popular Melbourne ice cream brand, has opened the doors of its North-Side production kitchen to the public, offering exclusive flavours and discounted bulk tubs. This new venture in Reservoir follows the rapid success of the brand’s original Brunswick shop, which quickly outgrew its modest space after opening in early 2021.
Founder Christian Williams shared with Broadsheet that the initial location was cramped from the outset. “We outgrew that pretty quickly, which wasn’t hard to do, given the size of it,” he explained. “We also couldn’t get three-phase power without major infrastructure upgrades, which would have cost hundreds of thousands of dollars. The reality is, all the best ice-cream equipment needs three-phase power to run efficiently.”
Despite these challenges, Luther’s Scoops rapidly gained a loyal following, particularly for its standout flavour, butterscotch ripple. Other customer favourites include banoffee pie, Earl Grey chocolate, and brown butter cheesecake, which helped elevate the brand to the top ranks of Melbourne’s ice-cream scene.
In response to growing demand, Luther’s expanded operations with a production kitchen in Reservoir, which has been supplying ice cream for both the original Brunswick store and a newer location in Thornbury. Now, the Reservoir site is open to the public as a permanent “factory outlet,” offering customers exclusive ice-cream flavours and bulk discounts on take-home tubs. The interior design, by Jerome Lewis, pairs cheerful furnishings with the original vibrant “hot-lava-coloured” tiles discovered when the business first moved into its former Chinese takeaway premises.
The expanded kitchen is equipped with the tools to meet the increased demand. The three-person kitchen team works with a range of high-end equipment, including a pastry roller, nut grinder, two 120-litre pasteurisers, and two 15-litre churners. “It was a dream,” says Williams, highlighting the benefits of a new walk-in freezer that allows the team to produce large batches well in advance, a major improvement over their previous setup, where they could only make enough to last through the next day.
In addition to ice cream, the kitchen also produces Luther’s renowned triple-chocolate cookies. As winter approaches, the team is preparing to expand their offerings with sweet pies, starting with a classic apple pie made from two cooking apple varieties, Bramley’s and London Pippins, sourced from Zooie’s Apples on the Mornington Peninsula.
However, despite the expanded kitchen, Williams notes that the site has already reached its production capacity. “We’ve already reached capacity,” he says, hinting that an even larger production kitchen may be on the horizon. In the meantime, he’s exploring new ideas for the Thornbury shop, including the possibility of introducing ice-cream crullers, a concept inspired by a deep fryer inherited from the shop’s previous tenant, Kenny Lover, who also ran an ice-cream business.
With demand continuing to soar, it seems likely that Luther’s Scoops will continue to evolve and expand, bringing even more innovative flavours and products to its dedicated fanbase.
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