Why We Make Everything Dairy-Free (And Why That Matters)

For a long time, dairy-free food meant compromise.
Less creamy. Less indulgent. Less joy.

We didn’t think that was good enough.

At ditto, everything we make is dairy-free. Not because it’s fashionable, and not because we want to tell anyone how to eat, but because, for many people, dairy simply doesn’t feel great. It can feel heavy, uncomfortable, or just… off. And when something doesn’t feel good, it tends to get in the way of enjoyment.

So we asked a different question:
What if dairy-free wasn’t a restriction at all? What if it was an invitation?

Dairy-free as a design choice, not a sacrifice

Making everything dairy-free means no one has to opt out. No second versions. No “this one’s for you”. Whether you’re vegan, lactose-intolerant, dairy-avoidant, kosher, halaal, or just curious, everyone gets the same thing. The good stuff.

That matters to us.

Food has a quiet way of bringing people together, and exclusions, even unintentional ones, can chip away at that. We’d rather make something that works for everyone at the table than something brilliant for a few.

But inclusivity alone isn’t enough. It still has to taste exceptional.

Why “good enough” isn’t good enough

Going dairy-free doesn’t magically make food better. In fact, it often makes things harder.

Dairy brings fat, structure, and creaminess, especially in chocolate and gelato. Take it away, and you’re left with a problem to solve. One that can’t be fixed with shortcuts, fillers, or clever marketing.

So we didn’t take shortcuts.

We make our gelato from raw ingredients, cook our bases properly, let them age overnight, and churn them using traditional Italian gelato methods. We build creaminess through technique, balance, and restraint, not through pre-mixes or tricks. The same thinking carries through everything we make.

Dairy-free isn’t the headline. The result is.

Kindness, without compromise

There’s another reason dairy-free matters to us: it’s often the kinder choice. Kinder on bodies. Kinder on animals. Kinder on the systems that support the food we eat.

But kindness doesn’t need to announce itself. It just needs to show up consistently, in the way something is made.

For us, that means:

• making inclusions from scratch, in our own kitchen

• choosing ingredients carefully

• refusing to dilute flavour or texture

• and never asking anyone to trade indulgence for principles

You shouldn’t have to decide between feeling good and enjoying your food. You should get both.

The point isn’t dairy-free, it’s delight

We don’t think about dairy-free as the goal. We think about it as the starting point.

From there, everything else matters more: texture, melt, balance, generosity, joy. The moment where someone takes a bite or a spoonful and pauses, not because it’s “good for dairy-free”, but because it’s just good.

That’s when it works.

Dairy-free food doesn’t need to be explained or justified anymore. It just needs to be made properly.

That’s why we make everything dairy-free.
And that’s why it matters.