In December 2004, Donald Trump, in the hit NBC television show “The Apprentice,” challenged contestants to come up with the best gelato flavor, or risk being fired.

“For months after that, people were making the connection between what they saw on the show and our ad in the Yellow Pages,” says Aaron Atwood of Atwood's Bakery, Alexandria, La. “We had to phrase it as ‘Gelato Ice Cream’ in the ad because nobody knew what gelato was. But every time a Food Network show like ‘Good Eats’ features gelato, more people come into our shop knowing what it is, and we have an upswing in gelato business.”

The Atwoods introduced gelato to their bakery when they moved to a larger facility in 2004. One of the main goals of the move was to concentrate their energies on more upscale product lines to get more business from people with looser purse strings. They were already adding coffee, a full chocolate line and sandwiches to their full-line retail bakery, and wanted to get a foot in the door of the frozen dessert market. Traditional ice cream offerings, though, didn't fit with their decidedly upscale approach.

Gelato had been on owners Mark and Rhonda Atwood's radar for some time, thanks to trips to Europe. Also, close friends and fellow bakers, Larry and Christian Merritt of Merritt's Bakery in Tulsa, Okla., had a gelato program running at the time.

The Atwoods sent their son Aaron to Merritt's Bakery for a crash course in how to make gelato. They bought the requisite equipment and have been doing well with it ever since.

When consumers try gelato, they tend to be happily surprised. But the Italian treat used to be so foreign that bakeries needed to do quite a bit of marketing and sampling to get people to try it. The dessert is gaining momentum, making marketing easier, but merchandising techniques are still necessary to trigger that first purchase.

Sampling is an effective method to acquaint people with gelato and teach them the differences between it and traditional ice cream.

At Vince & Joe's Gourmet Market in Shelby Township, Mich., all gelato needed was a little push into the limelight. The owners, brothers Vince and Joe Vitale, owned and operated smaller Italian markets before opening the full-service grocery store and bakery. Gelato was a natural choice for them. They installed a small gelato case, but it was positioned at a 45-degree angle around the corner from the bakery, and gelato wasn't getting the attention the brothers had anticipated. So, they decided to expand the bakery to include the former gelato case and give gelato some exposure.

“Since we expanded our cases, everything has really boomed. The two departments under one roof really drive one another,” says Bob Blazinski, bakery manager. “With the two departments together, we have more people coming by, lots of foot traffic, because there is just so much to see. The gelato is so colorful, it draws people in.”

In the new layout, the gelato display springs out from the bakery in a 20-ft. case. A small cookie case serves as a joint or connecter between the gelato case and another 20-ft. pastry case. The result is one long, uninterrupted visual merchandising scheme. The gelato and bakery departments operate with separate staffs, but Blazinski expects the lines to blur as time passes. The gelato department currently produces gelato cakes in lieu of ice cream cakes, and the pastry chef in him wants to experiment with decorating in gelato.

“As people shop, they go through the produce department, the frozen foods, but when they get to the bakery, they get an impressive visual. That's where they find the sweets and that's where the fun starts,” Blazinski says.