The Brooklyn Creamery started in 2016 as a small brand in Brooklyn, New York with a simple mission; to make food that treats you better. Today the brand stands to revive tastebuds with healthy yet tasty alternatives. In conversation with Romil Ratra, Chief Executive Officer, of Brooklyn Creamery we try to understand more about the brand’s growth story in the MENA region.
The team at The Brooklyn Creamery believes that eating with joy is essential to eating better. Thatʼs why they’re obsessed with creating delightful food for everyone, no matter what their health journeys or preferences may be. In alignment with that theme, The Brooklyn Creamery boasts a remarkable selection of low-calorie, no added sugar, vegan, keto, and high-protein ice creams, available in a variety of indulgent formats, including tubs, chocolate-coated bars, ice cream sandwiches, bonbons, and cones.
With a strong presence in the Middle East and beyond, The Brooklyn Creamery stands as the sole brand to offer such a diverse portfolio of ice cream options designed to cater to a wide range of lifestyle and dietary preferences without compromising on the taste and enjoyment of decadent ice cream.
PRESENCE ACROSS THE GLOBE: Today, The Brooklyn Creamery has carved a niche for itself in several international markets, including the UAE, India, KSA, Kuwait, Mauritius and the Maldives and has revolutionised the way people indulge in this classic treat.
Building a flavourful narrative
The pandemic has been an eye-opener, helping people choose a healthy lifestyle as compared to before. “People in GCC were fast to catch on the wave of change and they embraced the new ‘eat better’ concept wave. People understood the value of conscious eating and more than ever, the people of this region started to value healthy indulgences. This region is always ahead of the curve when it comes to matters of health. But now they began to find more options for healthy alternatives to satiate their love for food. This helped us grow as a choicest option,” Ratra mentioned.
Ice cream evokes nostalgia and that’s why the brand’s efforts are always to give their customers a taste of flavours without compromising on health. After R&D and several market tests, the brand entered the GCC market 3 years back, starting with Dubai. Ever since, the brand has been witnessing robust growth adding a touch of health fused with authenticity for its customers. Brooklyn Creamery has pioneered ice cream home delivery in the region by letting every customer taste the unique flavours right from the comfort of their homes.
Market for growth
The brand is strongly expanding its presence across the GCC. Recently launched in Kuwait and KSA, Brooklyn looks to enter Bahrain and Qatar in the first quarter of 2024. Further, it looks to enter Oman in the next quarter. While the brand wants to make its entire range available to the customer through its own and other prominent food delivery channels, it also handpicks the right offline food and grocery channels to serve the customers. “Innovation is key to what we do, and we always closely listen to our customers and their feedback to plan our product range and the format in which we sell. We have been exploring varied channels until now to get closer to our customers and our endeavour will be to continue this journey with more innovation and newer concepts,” Ratra adds.
Brooklyn is known for its pop-ups and other such varied experiences and collaborations through which the brand gives on-ground experiences to its customers. The plan is to get into an experience store format soon, but only when the time is ripe. For now, the brand’s focus is to reinvent and innovate the flavours and formats of its product range. What started with a small line of varied flavours hosts more than 50 varieties today curated specially for this region.
The brand wants to continue with its growth journey by closely looking at each region from the taste and flavour point of view. Building the whole marketing and customer journey around this goal is what the brand looks to do in its journey ahead.