How Indian ice creams offer unique and creative flavours, as Gen Z and millennials drive gourmet and artisanal trends
- Inspired by everything from local cakes and desserts to red chilli and street food, Indian ice cream brands are breaking the mould when it comes to flavours
- India’s ice cream market is booming thanks in part to hotter summers and is expected to jump from US$2.7 billion in 2023 to US$11.5 billion in 2032
Ice cream is the perfect treat for scorching Indian summers but these days, they do not come in just any old flavours.
From chilli basil and betel leaf to sesame candy and even masala chai, these so-called artisanal ice creams are taking the traditional frozen dessert to another level.
Burma Burma, a Burmese restaurant and tea room chain in India, offers varieties made in-house including dark chocolate and olive oil, avocado and honey, caramelised chocolate and cheese, honeycomb and sweetcorn, and durian.
“The recently introduced ice cream flavours are a reflection of the preferences of millennials and Gen Z,” says Ankit Gupta, co-founder of Burma Burma.
“We have played upon the nostalgia of ice cream rituals such as visiting parlours, birthday parties, and bowls shared with family and guests, which to an extent helped us create different flavours. Our packaging is equally nostalgic, and encapsulates the feeling of vintage parlours and ice cream trucks.”
Chef Jayatri Biswas of The Fat little Penguin, an ice cream parlour in Kolkata, says that the Indian ice cream market has been slow to open up to new flavours, but that has not stopped his parlour from creating fun offerings such as popcorn cream cheese jalapeño, tarty lemon and lavender passion fruit.
