"We are also coming up with 100 ml cups, which will give a direct competition to brands like Havmor, Amul and Mother Diary"

At the sidelines of the recently held Startup Summit 2019 event, in Delhi, Restaurant India spoke to Anitan Sharma, Head Sales and Operation, Ice Cream Works where he talked about the different franchise models of the brand, the expansion plans and how the brand’s strategy of launching small packaging will help them to compete directly with the established ice cream brands.  

What is so special about your franchise?

Our ice creams are made from the buffalo milk and we use fresh cream in it. The cocoa we are using comes from the Madagascar and Belgium, we have ingredients from Italy for instance the vanilla we use is pure and has a distinct colour to it. For food flavoured ice creams we actually use the chunks of fruits in it. The fruits are available throughout the year for example the Alfonzo mango, Guava, litchi and Sitaphal.

What all ingredients you import and source locally?

We import several ingredients and source some of our ingredients locally. For example, the Madagascar cocoa, Belgian chocolate, vanilla from France.

Tell me about your franchise model? How much does it cost?

We have three different models. The first one is the kiosk one, which costs Rs 7.5 lakhs which includes 2.5 lakhs for the franchise cost and 5 lakhs for the interior and machinery cost. This is the capital investment. The second model is 150-200 sq. ft. which costs Rs 10 lakhs (2.5lakhs for the franchise and 7.5 lakhs will be for interior and machinery).

How has been the growth so far?

We started in 2012, from one outlet in Mumbai, Shivaji Park and gradually we are growing. We are now present in 60 locations across the country. We are supplying our products to across all the big bazaars in Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Chennai and Bangalore. We are also supplying our ice creams to one of the premiums brand, Nature’s Basket.

Moving forward what can we expect from this brand?

We have a plan to open 150 stores in another two years and we want to reach to all the small and big formats in the formal and general trade. We are also coming up with 100 ml cups, which will be a takeaway box of 100ml of ice-cream. This small packaging will give a direct competition to brands like Havmor, Amul and Mother Diary. It will be in 9-10 flavours. Some of the flavours will have international flavours.

All the 60 stores are franchise based?

55 of them are franchise based. It’s been 5 years since we launched this brand.

How have been the footfalls?

We get around 4000-5000 customers on a monthly basis in our basic models. However, we encounter more number of customers in our bigger formats and it depends upon the city and store locations too.