But how did it all start? Its founder, Maximino Rodrigues, was an "ambitious and visionary young man" who decided to 'roll up' his sleeves and start testing recipes at home, until he came up with "his own ice cream recipe".
"It was in Angola that this story began, which today is defined and identified as a 'success story', started more than half a century ago by Maximino Rodrigues, its founder", reads a publication made by Geladaria Veneza on its Facebook.
Having started working "at a very young age", Maximino Rodrigues "with his intuition recognized that he could be facing a big deal", but to do so he needed to arrive at the ideal formula, something that "from very early" he strived to achieve.
And it all started at home with the help of his wife, Cecília. "At home, putting all his talent to the test, and with the precious collaboration of his wife Cecília, he followed the technique and using the ingredients in total secrecy, he began a series of experiments until achieving the result he had idealized, thus obtaining his own recipe of ice cream", the publication reads.
After that, he ended up creating his "own and first brand", called 'Cilo', a "tender and affectionate name in honor of his wife".
However, the name 'Veneza' was not immediate, before reaching the 'final product', there were still – in addition to the 'Cilo' brand – 'Império', 'Himalaia', 'Haiti' and only later did it arrive at ' Venice', the choice of which was made by Cecília, "who on a tourist trip to that Italian city was enchanted by its romantic beauty in 1962".
The arrival of the ice cream shop in Portugal only occurred almost 30 years after its founding, in 1952 in Angola. "In 1977, Carlos Rodrigues and his wife Arlete Rodrigues moved to Vilamoura, opening the first store in the Vilamoura Marina called Veneza ice cream", the publication states.
According to the establishment's Facebook, the ice cream shop has been in Vilamoura (Portugal) since 1978 and some well-known names have been there. This is the case of Cristiano Ronaldo's mother, Dolores Aveiro, and artists Virgul and Dino D'Santiago, among others.
Although it has a varied range of flavors, the ice cream shop's standout flavor is rice pudding, and it is currently managed by the grandchildren of its founder, Vanda and Bruno Rodrigues.
