Apsara Ice Cream

1900 hours, Feb 25, Saturday, Versova

The Prelude:

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Apsara is a heavyweight in the natural ice cream segment. I had met the owner-director Kiran Shah in July 2015, when the young third generation scion had just taken over the reins of the brand. This was in Powai which was their second outlet after the flagship location in Walkeshwar. Two years down the line, the brand has grown massively both in goodwill and footprint, with as many as nineteen locations now across the city. Talk about gumption.

 

The Personality:

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I was hosted by the franchise owner, Ms Shalini Chhutani. A finance specialist and an ex BNP Paribas analyst, the entrepreneurial streak drove her to chuck the 9 to 5 routine and take up a venture. This is her second outlet, having helmed one more in Takshila since six months now. This outlet has been started merely a month ago, but the brand pull has already achieved tiding over the operational costs.

The Process:

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Excerpts from my interview with Kiran Shah during the earlier visit:

 

"Sancha ice creams are hand cranked churn ice creams as against the machine-made ones. It is a very slow rotating process, involving much less number of rotations as compared to that in a mechanised one. As a result, the content of over run (air) in such products is much less, resulting in a creamier and much richer fare than the otherwise icy crystal filled ice creams.".

So how are you different from the competition?

"The others tend to be more mechanised, more commercialised. They take fruits, milk and sugar to process it through machines, That is the biggest differentiating factor - we do all the processing by hand churning in sancha. The fruits / dry fruits used by both of us are natural, but the manufacturing process also has its role to play. And there, I can safely say that we are more authentic."

"We also have our own systems and standards of how to process the milk and how to process the fruit. We have a minimum of 35 – 40 % pulp content in our ice creams. Which is not the case necessarily with others".

"One more difference is that their base is pretty much the same for all the varieties. A base ends up taking 50 to 60 % of the end product, and hence it is very important to give due respect to it. These bases are differentiated in terms of heating, homogenization, and pasteurisation process. We have different bases for different sets of varieties. For example, our Roasted Almond is more caramelised than our Chikki one. We have as many as four different bases for our forty-odd flavours. Which ultimately ends up in perfect taste. In contrast the competition uses the same whitish base for every flavour.".

" We do not use any emulsifiers or preservatives or artificial agents. We also provide sugar-free ice creams, which no one else does.".

"Finally we have some unique flavours which have been coined after intense research. You won't find a Chikki or a Pineapple or an Appleberry or a Peachy promise anywhere else. We easily do twice the number of flavors as competition. And we do sorbets, kulfis and milkshakes as well.".

 

The Picture:

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This place stands exactly where Naturals had its roots some time ago. Naturals and Sancha are very close in the vicinity but more important, Pabrais' is literally their next door neighbour. So Versova is the only location in Mumbai where all the four natural ice cream brands, along with a few “non-natural” ones, are clustered together and vie for the same piece of pie. This is a cutesy place, with the colours of the brand vibrating the environ. The green and yellow make for a wonderful combination, and you have the floating balloons, the wall paint, the photo frames, the lighting, the staff uniform, the seating arrangement – all echoing the ethos. Zoning you out from the rest of the world.

 

 

The Pleasure:

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PINK GUAVA (5 / 5):

I started with their flagship variant, the Pink Guava - with a dash of red chilli powder and salt added to it. It was like having a yummy chilled pink guava cream, minus the seeds. Easily the best of the lot. I genuinely rued over the fact that I was offered a mere spoonful of it.

 

PANI PURI SORBET (3.5 / 5):

Offered as a dollop in the fluffy puris. A sweet and spicy mix. A fair fare.

 

FALOODA FUNDA (4 / 5):

So turning the world inside out, rather than having an ice cream in a Falooda, this was a Falooda in the ice cream. With vermicelli, sabja and rose syrup, no less. Nice. Imaginative.

 

PAN PASAND (4 / 5):

A Calcutta meetha paan with the goodness of betel leaf, gulkand and saunf. Elsewhere, a Paan ice cream is served by a mere addition of the aniseed, here there were more efforts invested. A thumbs up.

 

COCONUT CRAVINGS (4 / 5):

The best thing about this one is that it is cautious on the sweeter side. Creamy tender coconut icecream sometimes warms the cockles of your heart.

TRIPPY TARGOLA (3.5 / 5):

One more innovative flavour. Palm fruit kernels ice cream. The flavour was precisely discernible and impeccable too.

 

 

RED VELVET (3.5 / 5):

Pretty standard, a raspberry cupcake ice cream.

 

FUNKY FERRERO (3.5 / 5):

Hazelnut dipped in chocolate sauce. The chocolate sauce was mild, and the hazelnut too incongruent with the ice cream quantity.

 

TAMARIND TWIST (4.5 / 5):

Again one very endearing variant, the sweet sour imli punch hits you in the first bite. It stuns you, and you are left wondering with the burst of flavours in the mouth.

The Postlude:

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The imagination is vivid and seems to be unstoppable. Who on earth could have thought of an Imli or a Pani puri as an ice cream? Kudos on that count. The real sancha factor also is a biggie and the key differentiator. There is a need to capitalise on that. Big time. On the flipside, I am wary of their pace. Too fast in too short a period of time. While the geographical expansion can be understood, the concern is more on the hurry of bringing out more and more newer flavours. Experimentation bordering on extra ordinary. It would be only intelligent to monitor the success of every variant to determine which merits existence in its own right and which ones are merely piggybacking a ride. I would love to understand how many family packs of Trippy Targolas and Watermelon flavours are sold in a time period, and whether they make sufficient business sense.

The Prescription:

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1) Capitalise on the flavours already introduced.

2) Green Mirchi flavour?

3) School contact and college contact programme.

 

4) A little tom-tomming in the market.

The Parameters:

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The Food Quotient : Food Quality 4.5 / 5, Food Choices 4.5 / 5, Food Portion 4 / 5, Food Presentation 4 / 5

The Other Determinants: Location 4.5 / 5, Cleanliness 4.5 / 5, Warmth 5 / 5

The Hygiene Factors: Ambience 4.5 / 5, Space quotient 4 / 5, Delivery time 4.5 / 5

The Conclusives: Food Price 4 / 5, The Overall Experience 4.5 / 5, Will I Visit again 5 / 5

The Ps:

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