Hice Cream- Goa

When cocktails and artisanal ice creams come together to create magic.

Scrolling through Instagram the other day for *cough research, I came across this image of a Chilli Mango Margarita ice cream. Wait, what? When I checked the page, I realized this was not a mistake. I also found the image of a Rum and Raybans Mojito, and a Coffee Liqueur and Spiced Rum ice cream. Well, I had two options- book tickets to Goa, or at the very least talk to the people behind these innovative products. I cheaped out for now, but my next visit to Goa, well you know… you do know. Alright without further ado, here I present to you team Hice Cream.

Finding Hice Cream

Blending artisanal ice creams and cocktails, Hice Cream is the brainchild of Gopika Khanna and Ajay Uthaman. Gopika works in the travel industry as a Sales and Marketing Head for the Indian subcontinent for her company, and Ajay runs his own advertising agency. Ice cream, Gopika shares, started as a hobby when they moved to Goa a few years back. “I was worried at the time that I would not have a job after the move. So I started exploring other options. One of the first things that came to my mind was being a home baker because I am very fond of baking. But after we moved to Goa, I realized that the market is saturated with many home bakers. I decided I should do something different. I went back to the whiteboard to brainstorm and figure out what would be a niche market- an interesting product where the competition is also limited,” Gopika shares. 

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Not only did Gopika find a niche product, but it also combined her interest for cocktails and desserts. “I am very fond of cocktails and wherever I go I try out new ones. Some of them are disasters, of course, but I keep experimenting. Somewhere, that formed the basis for working on alcohol based ice creams.” 

After six months of recipe testing, Hice Cream was launched in November 2016.

Let’s kick this ice cream up a notch

“There are very few alcoholic ice cream brands in the world. I am not talking about the typical rum and raisin which is widely available but has only rum essence in it, and not actual rum,” says Gopika talking about creating the products for Hice Cream. “The thing is, these are fairly new products. So it’s not that you just look up a recipe, and recreate it. Initially, I thought I would start with a personal favourite- a red wine sangria. It turned out to be an out and out disaster. No two bottles of wine are the same. Even if they come out of the same case, they are different. You need a stable alcohol to make ice cream. Whiskey, on the other hand, doesn’t deteriorate much based on how it is packaged or transported. These were some of the learnings during the initial phase,” she adds. 

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Gopika launched Hice Cream with about 12 flavours and has slowly built her products over time. She uses organic ingredients where possible, and is now focusing on showcasing the local alcohol. Before you ask- yes the Goan fenny is definitely on her list. Hice Cream also has vegan options as well as non-alcoholic offerings for those who just want some good ol’ ice cream. “I do make non-alcoholic ice creams because my son kept asking – what is in it for me. So those are his favourite flavours that you see in that section,” she says laughing.

The popular flavours, she adds, are the coffee and chocolate ones. There is also a good demand for the vegan products.

Prioritising Products

Hice Cream has been featured in Vogue, Thomas Cook Airlines UK Travel Magazine, and Pure & Eco India among other publications within Goa. Gopika shares that along with orders for local events and parties, they also now gets requests from tourists who are heading towards Goa and have Hice Cream on their “must have” list. “Within a few months of our launch, we were featured in the Goa Times front page and featured in Planet Goa. That gave us tremendous visibility in the market. Since then we have been featured in a number of places. Now, a lot of the requests come in through word of mouth marketing. My husband does the posters you see on our Facebook and Instagram page, and many people have reached out to us through social media as well. The response has been much better than what we expected,” Gopika admits. 

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With full times jobs and a business that is gaining a lot of eyeballs, it might be tough to play the balancing act. But for team Hice Cream, the product comes first. “We are happy with the sales we do. I know we could do a lot more, but at the moment we are enjoying ourselves,” says Gopika when I ask her about her plans.”For us, it’s important that we are completely satisfied with the product. A lot of people tried the red wine sangria I mentioned earlier, and they did like the product. But I was not happy with the outcome, so I decided it was not going to be on the menu. Our focus is making a delicious product with good ingredients, organic sources where possible and high-quality alcohol.“

Understanding The Food World

Gopika makes Hice Cream in small batches from her home in Goa. While many people understand where artisanal products stem from, she agrees that every now and then the word has been indulged in for the wrong reasons. “I feel the word “artisanal” has been overused. Majority of the clients are now are educated enough to know how to distinguish between artisanal and non-artisanal products. You cannot have multi-chain outlets and call it artisanal. That defies the very definition of the word. It is a growing market, and people are becoming aware of the quality, the value, and the reason they are paying a premium for such products. It is a good time to be in this space.“

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As for her advice to future food entrepreneurs? “You have to identify your niche, and you have to understand your market. Do your research.”

For more information follow Hice Cream on Facebook and Instagram.

Cover Image Courtesy: Hice Cream Facebook.

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