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Friday, March 29, 2024

Meet the sisters who turned their mom’s recipe into a booming gelato business

Shivanie Mirchandani and Gayatri Rattha from Delhi turned their homemade ice cream recipe
into a booming gelato business called Minus 30. What’s the secret behind their success?

Shivanie Mirchandani and Gayatri Rattha from Delhi ate ice cream as children, just like everyone else.
The flavors, however, were not those served by desert businesses, but rather vegan ice cream made in
their own home by their mother, a cook who enjoyed experimenting with novel flavors.

When she returned to India, the two decided to start the brand Minus 30 (since gelato freezes at -30
degrees Celsius) in 2016. During the epidemic, the artisanal, indigenous gelato business had a
remarkable 300 percent increase in sales, resulting to orders of 90,000 litres of ice cream each month.

The business began in a home kitchen with a modest machine and a delivery man hired by the sisters.
Despite its humble beginnings, the sister duo discovered a strong client retention rate, which is now at
80%.

The venture began to expand, and the two saw their annual growth rate double.

Shivanie explains, “We subsequently relocated into a larger building and continued to focus solely on
Delhi-NCR.” They began in Mumbai, Bengaluru, Jaipur, Goa, and Dehradun earlier this year, and have a
production operation in Chennai where they sell gelato.

The business intends to spread the concept of vegan and sugar-free gelato all throughout India, with
ambitions to grow in Hyderabad, Kolkata, and Pune. This USP proven to be an excellent solution for the
country’s population, which seeks deserts with similar characteristics.

Shivanie asserts, “Our vegan and sugar-free goods are selling quite well and are extremely nutritious.
Furthermore, our [other] gelato flavors include 30% less sugar than the industry standard. As a result, all
of our goods are highly nutritious.”

Minus 30 is currently a well-liked ice cream brand among its clients, with over 18,000 Instagram
followers. Coconut, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter, French Vanilla, Green Tea Matcha, Strawberry,
Pistachio, and Mint Chocolate are among the vegan and sugar-free flavors available.

“One may enjoy their sugar-free and vegan flavors guilt-free!” remarked one satisfied customer on
Zomato. “The sugar-free coconut and hazelnut are a must!”

However, it isn’t always easy sailing, as Shivanie adds that business might be slow at times. They spend
their time perfecting the product before releasing it to the public. It is critical for them to test the
market’s pulse before launching a new product.

She claims, “Last year, we just released one product, hot chocolate, to combat the cold. We got a lot of
positive feedback from that. We want to get the product perfect, therefore we don’t want to hurry in
and swamp the market. But, given the specialized nature of vegan and sugar-free ice creams, does the
company intend to expand its offerings?”

Shivanie adds that with an 80% client retention rate, they like to think they’re doing something right.
She says, “We produce customized items for them.”

Gayatri claims she learnt strict quality control while in Italy. According to her, “the product must be
consistent from batch to batch. After all, it is a science.”

Gayatri, who now manages the brand’s recipes and flavors, discusses how she learned to experiment
with new flavors based on locally available resources.”

She says, “Well-balanced ingredients are what make a delicious gelato.”

The sister team believes that through increasing the business, they are also building the brand.

“In India, the ice cream industry is booming. What we want to accomplish is offer the client a fantastic
flavor,” Gayatri explains.

Shivanie offers a message for aspiring business owners: Nothing is impossible if you work hard and give
it your all.

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