Italian Beverage Company founder Sheldon Flax is celebrating the announcement of a Queen’s Award for Enterprise in International Trade.

Based in Borehamwood, the company’s product lines range from hot chocolate to smoothies, and also produces juices, syrups and milk shakes. Morrisons, Pret a Manger and Costa Coffee are among the major high-street chains it supplies.

“I started as an importer 18 years ago, bringing in flavoured coffee syrups from Seattle and Ghirardelli chocolate from San Francisco,” Mr Flax recalled. “But I just couldn’t get the products I wanted, so I created my own.

“Our first exports were to Germany. Six years later, we’re exporting to 46 countries and exports grew 234 per cent in the last three years. Funnily enough, one of the few places we don’t export to is Israel. Beth din accreditation is very hard to come by.”