New-age ice cream brands come alive with quick commerce

For as long as he can remember, Hari has loved ice cream—but has rarely eaten it. For years, in the summer months, he would crave ice cream but hate stepping out to the shop in Ahmedabad’s scorching heat. And even when he did, his freezer was almost always packed with aamras (mango puree), leaving little room for anything else. 

But in the last four years or so, Hari has had little reason not to satisfy his ice cream cravings, that too almost instantly. What changed for Hari and millions like him was the advent of quick commerce. With an ice cream just a few phone taps away and delivered home in minutes, even the lack of space in the freezer wasn't an issue anymore.

The convenience of instant delivery has significantly boosted ice cream consumption across India. Ankit Chona, founder of Ahmedabad-based Hocco, has seen this transformation firsthand. He says, “Most houses in India have no or just one freezer. Even in affluent households, there's usually just one fridge with a freezer. What quick commerce has done is increase in-home consumption. If you’re hosting a party for 8-10 people, you no longer need to store ice cream in advance. You simply order it as dinner is ending, and it arrives within 10-15 minutes. This has significantly boosted overall ice cream consumption.”

Eager to ride the quick commerce wave, new brands have emerged, with the realisation that the ice cream business no longer needs to be slow-growing or capital-intensive in this new era. Investors have also noticed this change. And so, over the past few years, they have funded new ice cream brands such as NIC Ice Creams, Go Zero, NOTO, and Minus 30.