As with many of the best startups, the origin of Van Diemens Land Creamery’s fortified ice cream can be traced back to a simple question.
It came from a catering manager at Calvary Hospital in Hobart who had just tasted one of the supplement drinks on offer to people in hospitals and aged care homes.
“Why are we feeding people food we wouldn’t eat ourselves?” he asked.
Fortified nutrition, which is designed for people in palliative care or recovery who may have swallowing difficulties, is typically delivered in the form of puddings, shakes or supplement drinks, and may do the job nutritionally but are often not nice to eat.
The catery manager’s question stuck with the team at Van Diemens Land Creamery, a small, family-run Tasmania-based ice cream company.
So they began to develop a better fortified food option in the form of With Love, an innovative ice cream created in partnership with Calvary Hospital and a clinical nutritionist.
With Love was officially launched in June 2025, and aims to provide nourishment and comfort to those who may be finding eating food too hard.
Each serving of the ice cream includes 10 grams of protein, 206 calories and doses of Vitamin D3 and B12. And most importantly, it still tastes like real ice cream.
“At its core, it’s about dignity,” Van Diemens Land Creamery general manager Carly Palmer said.
“Too often in care, patients are offered food they don’t want, can’t finish or that simply doesn’t feel nourishing.
“With Love was made to change that. It tastes like rich and decadent ice cream, crafted with certified organic Tasmanian milk, but it also carries the nutritional strength of a medical supplement. It’s food that works clinically and emotionally.”
Van Diemens Land Creamery’s With Love is a finalist in the InnovationAus 2025 Awards for Excellence in the Food and Agritech category. The InnovationAus 2025 Awards for Excellence winners and finalists will be celebrated at a black-tie gala dinner at Sydney Town Hall on Thursday, November 27. You can book your tickets here.
The Food and AgriTech Award is proudly sponsored by AgriFutures Australia. This category celebrates innovations in value-add food production and AgriTech, covering the likes of high-tech sensor devices, farm-based robotics, plant-based meats and other protein products at scale.
The nomination is affirmation for the company, and a “moment of pride for Tasmania”, Ms Palmer said.
“For us, this nomination is deeply affirming,” she said.
“With Love wasn’t driven by commercial goals – it was driven by care. We wanted to create something that genuinely helped people, and to see that recognised on a national stage is humbling.
“This is a homegrown innovation that started with a heartfelt question in a hospital kitchen and has grown into something that can change patient care.
“Being part of the Awards tells us that projects led by compassion and community can stand alongside the best in innovation, and that means everything to us.”
Van Diemens Land Creamery has now partnered with FermenTasmania to look at future product development, including prebiotic-enriched options to support gut health in vulnerable populations.
The company is also working with CSIRO and the federal government’s Industry Growth Program to investigate scalable pathways for innovation in clinical nutrition and food systems.
It is planning to continue to roll out its With Love ice cream in hospitals and aged care homes in Tasmania in the coming years.
With Love is made with certified organic Tasmanian milk and Madagascan vanilla, and is the same texture as its premium ice cream range.
Van Diemens Land Creamery is also looking for further partners, health systems and collaborators to help spread the product across Australia and around the world.
The 2025 InnovationAus Awards for Excellence will be held on November 27 at the magnificent Sydney Town Hall. You can secure individual seats or book a table here. Purchase a table of 10 and have your logo displayed on screens across the venue and in the event programme as a ‘Table Sponsor’.
The InnovationAus 2025 Awards for Excellence are proudly supported by ACS, PEXA Group, the CSIRO ON Program, Griffith Hack, TechnologyOne, Q-CTRL, National AI Centre, University of New South Wales, KPMG, AgriFutures Australia, Investment NSW and IP Australia.
Protecting your great ideas with intellectual property (IP) rights can lead to lasting benefits for your growing business. IP refers to creations of the mind, such as a brand, logo, invention, design or artistic work. Head to the IP Australia website to find out more about IP, and how it might help your business.
Do you know more? Contact James Riley via Email.