Long before burgers and tacos got wheels, there was the humble ice-cream truck. Billy van Creamy isn’t much like the one you remember from your childhood, though.

Owners and brothers Alex and Mitch Wells knew nothing about ice cream when they started. But after taking a course, they realised they didn’t like the widely accepted practice of using synthetic stabilisers and emulsifiers.

Their recipes use just five ingredients: the base flavour (for example fresh mint or roasted hazelnuts), Demeter milk, cane sugar, cream and an egg-yolk stabiliser. The cream is the only non-organic element, simply because the duo can’t find an organic-cream supplier.

As at Pidapipo, the resulting flavours are stored in a pozzetti system – a large freezer with removable insulated pots, which maintains the gelato at minus-12 degrees.

Despite patrons not being able to gawk at the ice cream (due to it being in those insulated pots, not piled high and on display), Billy van Creamy has the flavours nailed. The whitewashed truck generally offers 12 flavours, sticking to straightforward classics such as espresso, pistachio, hazelnut, coconut and peach.

Scout the truck’s location on Twitter, or if you’re feeling lucky, just head to Ruckers Hill in Northcote, its most common hangout.