Plant-based products are driving the birth of a segment that was little unknown a few years back. From food products to accessories and clothes, people want to embrace the idea of a cruelty-free lifestyle in their everyday living and in order to do that they are turning vegan and embracing natural ingredients and lapping up the plant-based revolution. Millennials and Gen Z are adopting this lifestyle faster than we can predicta and this has led to the growth of brands in all categories and segments, why then should ice-creams take a backseat? According to a report by Future Market Insights, the global plant based ice-cream market has reached a valuation of $1,492.5 Million in 2021 and is expected to grow at a rate of 9.3% CAGR during the assessment period between 2021 and 2031.
D2C brands foraying into this category by seeing a huge market gap that traditional players were not able to fulfill is giving them an upper hand over the market. But with ice-cream as a product, there are a lot of challenges that arise at the time of delivery in terms of logistics, warehousing etc.
To get talking on the varied aspects of running a plant-based brand, we spoke to Sonal, Founder & CEO, WhiteCub. WhiteCub is offering dairy-free ice creams and are selling their products offline in their dedicated parlors and online on their website. They have also started to diversify their product range by launching Whitecub vegan butter etc.
Delivery challenges
Ice Cream as a product can bring up innumerable delivery and fulfillment challenges such as delivering at the right temperature, tightening the communication with the food supply chain partners, inventory Management etc. These challenges can percolate down to the customer’s level and create a lot of hesitation in their minds too. When asked about these challenges and overcoming them, Sonal replied “Dairy goods have an issue of perishability and we address this concern very seriously. For this, we have got onboard a high quality logistic company. In the earlier days, when we were not using a logistics partner, we were doing it with the help of cargo. We always choose a logistics partner with whom we are extremely sure about quality and service, even if we have to pay extra we’re okay with it.”
She added “We are going ahead with the principle of no compromise with the quality of the product. And for this, I would like to thank the Government of India for encouraging the policies of a rather robust supply chain management. There’s a massive shift towards better logistics services as well, which are giving very good deliveries and also happy to transport lesser quantities as well.”
Unique offerings
Facing a huge competition in the market, every brand needs to offer something unique to stand out in the highly competitive market. When asked about threats from competition and moving over that, Sonal highlighted, “There are a couple of things that keep us ahead of the competition. Firstly, of course, we’re not restricted only to our core product i.e ice cream. We aim to become a dairy alternative brand. Keeping in line, we have started evolving into other products as well. In the past 2-3 months, we have launched three to four new products. Secondly, major brands outsource their manufacturing but we have understood outsourcing everything could compromise the quality of the product. We addressed this issue by maintaining a healthy balance between outsource and own manufacturing. Our core product ice cream is house manufactured. Thirdly, we are collaborating with a lot of non-competing food brands and upgrading our e-commerce facilities to make direct contact with the customers.”
Pre-pandemic vs Post-Pandemic
Sonal told us about the changes the brand has undergone due to the pandemic “Pre-pandemic, We were enjoying a direct experience with the customers as we have 4 ice cream parlors in the north India region. During the COVID, we were only able to deliver the product online but post-pandemic customers are returning back to the parlors. The only difference between Pre-Covid and Post-Covid phases is that a new customer base is coming to us and also the customers have started adopting healthy options in their diet.”
