-Tanishaa Saxena (cbedit@imaws.org)
Ice cream is not just a dessert we have to satiate our cravings, It’s the food we use when celebrating birthdays, Little League wins, and other special occasions in life. In recent years, we have there has been a shift as consumers have become more focused on ‘better for health’ products and prioritizing their wellness needs.
Consumers are also becoming more eco-friendly; conscious of what they eat and even the utensils they use to eat. Furthermore, A widespread rumor associating ice cream with an increased risk of COVID-19 exacerbated the situation. In such a scenario what do ice cream chains and manufacturers did, we figure out.
Get-A-Whey is a homegrown brand that caters to consumers who are health-conscious. The story behind the brand is touching. Jash’s (co-founder) mother was looking for a healthier dessert to satiate her kids’ post-workout cravings. Upon looking in the market she realized that most Desserts available in the market are typically packed with high fat and a lot of sugar. She got onto it in a jiffy. It was on the very first bite, the three of us decided that this ice cream has to be shared with the world.
Today, Get-A-Whey, make ice creams that are healthy yet outrageously tasty. They are packed with whey protein and no added sugar whatsoever. They are in different cities including Mumbai, Pune, Bangalore, Chennai, Delhi NCR, Surat, Jaipur and Ahmedabad.
Jash Shah, Co-founder, explain, “We all have realised the importance of healthy food and it’s not like we didn’t knew. But the pace of adopting a healthy lifestyle is higher than ever before. We realised that in the market we have had no healthy ice cream. So, we tried whipping up some protein ice cream in 2018. In no time Get-A-Whey launched. Our USP is making healthy yet delicious ice cream. Each scoop, he adds, is high in protein with 10 grams of protein per serving of 75 grams to 80 grams. It doesn’t contain any added sugar and is made with real ingredients, he claims. He continues they use Erythritol, an organic sweetener with zero calories and sugars, usually found in melons and grapes. I love working out and having protein. We are a family that believes in clean eating, but I also love ice cream. You’ll never find my refrigerator without it.
Lately, A vegan diet is fast gaining acceptance in India. The rising trend for plant-based alternatives in the food and beverage industry reflects the growth of interest in the vegan diet. According to data, compared to trends in 2020, overall vegan food delivery orders increased by 17%. Jigar ice cream has been manufacturing over 100 flavors of icecreams and a wide range of other products like Basundi, Shrikhand, Aamras etc The Ice-cream and other desserts are manufactured at the state-of-the-art manufacturing unit based in Mumbai (Goregaon West).
Jigar, Founder of the unit, says, “While there’s a cultural shift happening as we have been moving towards vegan diet. I have observed that it is still at a very beginning level. There’s clearly not a high demand for vegan ice cream. People have become health conscious and they are trying to add more nutrition to their food but vegan diet is a relatively new phenomenon to be adopted by the people at large. I am manufacturing ice cream for more than 30 years but have not received orders for vegan ice cream.
Having said that, Jigar has indeed observed that nutrition is important and a key term these days. “Especially, after the pandemic people have become extra careful and concerned about what they are eating. What we as manufacturers have been trying to do is, provide our customers sugar-free, protein-rich ice cream,” concludes Jigar.
Mumbai Kulfi has been serving Authentic traditional Kulfis & Natural Ice creams with over 100+ outlets all over India. R.G Kannan, Founding Member of the chain tells, “Ice cream is not just a dessert we love but an alternative to cake. Kulfis goes beyond fancy ice creams that these days several outlets are serving. Kulfis work effectively regardless of age. When we launched we had a simple motive and that is authentic taste.
“These days artisanal ice cream is in trend as we want something unique to satiate our cravings. What I believe is that the base should be the same but the twist is in the flavor experiment. We make sure that our kulfis are authentic in taste and give consumers of the kind experience of eating,” sums up Kannan.
Veluto ice cream, Veluto is Italian for Velvet. Gelato is Italian for Ice Cream is a chain of ice cream that believe that ice cream should be as light as can be, with minimal fats and sugar. Veluto’s Gelato is high on taste, and low on guilt because life shouldn’t just be lived. It should be celebrated. Eisha Chopra,Founder, tells, “We thrive on vegan and sugar-free gelato. Zero calories is our mantra. We firmly believe that the time has come when we should rethink the kind of food we have been consuming. I mean look around and see how much harm we have already done to our environment and to ourselves. It is high time that we need to restructure everything. The vegan diet is one step. It is gradually picking up in India and trust me we have so many varieties of vegan diets.
We have ingredients and all we do is mix them as per our health requirements. Consuming fat and high calories affect our body severely. These days due to easy access to the internet we have been reading and consuming health stories with every tap. We know now that what A particular food with so and so calories can affect our body leading to diseases. Secondly, we have also started experimenting with our taste buds and credit goes to the millennials. When we accept newness automatically it becomes easy. Ice cream should not just satisfy dessert cravings but also give a dose of energy and heath shot in each scoop.”
Omni Ice Cream need no introduction in the world of ice creams. They have been there for years delivering the finest quality of ice cream with diverse flavors in particular in Rajasthan. Om Prakash Gupta, founder of Omni ice Cream opine, “During the pandemic even when it was scorching heat people were having ‘kadha’ then one can imagine where the demand for ice cream would have been. It was obvious that people were scared and naturally anything that was affecting their health they were avoiding. But now things are back on track. Ice cream is a feeling for us and nothing can beat that.
If we talk about the vegan diet trend then in my opinion it’s a European concept. We are following a vegetarian diet already, a vegan diet will not be able to complete the nutritional value that we Indians need. There’s not even that kind of demand, especially for vegan ice cream. Just a fraction of society is following that diet which is not a factor to produce an exclusive vegan range of ice cream.”
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