DAIRY-FREE
GELATO IN
SINGAPORE.

Sorbet vs dairy-free gelato

Sorbetis naturally dairy-free — made with fruit, sugar, and water, no milk or cream. It is the most common dairy-free frozen dessert in Singapore. When a gelato brand says "dairy-free option," they usually mean a sorbet.

Dairy-free gelato uses plant-based milks (coconut, oat, almond) to replicate the creamy texture of dairy gelato. These are less common in Singapore and vary widely in quality. A good sorbet made with real fruit is usually a better experience than a mediocre dairy-free gelato.

What makes a good sorbet?

A good sorbet is not just frozen fruit juice. The best sorbets have:

• Real fruit, not flavouring.The fruit should be the first ingredient, not "natural flavours."
• Balanced sweetness.Too much sugar and it tastes like syrup; too little and it freezes rock-hard. The sugar ratio must be calibrated to the fruit's natural sweetness.
• Smooth texture.Sorbets are prone to becoming icy because they lack fat. Good technique — proper churning and stabilisers like fruit pectin — keeps the texture smooth.
• Intense flavour. Without cream to mellow it, the fruit flavour should be vivid and concentrated. A mango sorbet should taste like biting into a mango.

Where to find dairy-free gelato in Singapore

Most gelato brands in Singapore offer at least one sorbet option. Here is where to look:

• Birb Gelato— one dairy-free sorbet every season, made with real fruit on the same small-batch line. No milk, no milk substitutes. Delivered islandwide. See current flavours →
• Birds of Paradise— offers a selection of dairy-free sorbets alongside their botanical gelato. Available at their storefronts and for delivery.
• Most gelato storefronts— Dopa Dopa, Tom's Palette, Apiary, and Messina typically have 2&#82134 sorbet options in their daily rotation.

How Birb makes dairy-free sorbet

Every Birb season includes at least one dairy-free sorbet. We make sorbet the same way we make gelato — on the same small-batch machine, with the same attention to texture and balance. The difference is the base: real fruit instead of milk and cream.

We do not use milk substitutes (oat milk, coconut milk) in our sorbets. The fruit is the star. If a flavour needs richness, we achieve it through technique — roasting the fruit, adjusting the sugar ratio, or using natural fruit pectin — not by adding plant-based cream.

Is sorbet vegan?

Sorbet is typically vegan because it contains no animal products. However, some brands use honey as a sweetener (which is not considered vegan by most standards), or process their sorbet on shared equipment with dairy products. If strict vegan certification matters to you, check with the brand directly.

Birb's sorbets are made with sugar, not honey, on a shared small-batch line. They are dairy-free and suitable for vegans, but we do not hold formal vegan certification.