115-year-old ice cream brand Vadilal woos youth with 'Instagram-savvy' cafe experience

In his book ‘Darwin’s Brands’, branding expert Anand Halve mentions Vadilal as another brand, apart from Amul, that has succeeded in being a ‘desi’ brand in a ‘western’ product category.

People were quite amused when Vadilal entered the Mumbai (then Bombay) market in the 1980s, reveals Halve. The ‘Cuffe Parade’ brigade felt it was unlikely that a brand, with a name like ‘Vadilal’, could gain any traction against the then market leader Kwality.

However, Enterprise Advertising created a campaign that defined the look of ice cream ads for many years to come. Apart from the photography that ‘made you want to lick the ice cream off the page’, as Mohammed Khan, chief of Enterprise Advertising, used to say, Vadilal’s marketing strategy was built around a simple insight. People need different brands in an impulse food category.

Back in the day, Vadilal created the ‘flavours of the month’ concept. Every month, the brand would introduce two new flavours: an ‘Indian’, like ‘Shahi Gulab’, and a ‘western’ one, such as ‘Hawaiian Pineapple’.

As per Halve, this gave an excuse to the consumers to visit a Vadilal outlet and try out the various flavours on offer. It also gave Vadilal a vibrant, exciting and ‘happening’ image. Third, it helped create an appeal even among the ‘Churchgate set’, as they asked for a cup of ‘Hawaiian Pineapple’.

Founded in 1907, Vadilal is a legacy brand that was started with a soda fountain shop in Ahmedabad, Gujarat. Five decades back, its founder Vadilal Gandhi had this vision to give people something that they hadn’t experienced before.

Vadilal recently launched its first dessert café in Ahmedabad. There are plans to expand it to other key Indian cities, like Delhi, Surat and Jaipur, by the year-end. Vadilal wants to have at least one café in every major city in the future.

Along with Vadilal’s popular ice creams, the café also offers ‘trendy and Instagram-worthy’ desserts and ‘fusion food’.

Aakanksha Gandhi, brand director, Vadilal (she represents the third generation of the family business), says that the brand wants to take the vision of her great-grandfather, forward. So, it decided to give something new to the customers in the form of ‘Vadilal Now For Ever Dessert Café’.

She tells afaqs! that with this launch, the brand wants to connect with the younger audience in the 18-35 age bracket. “Ice cream is no more like the evening ‘mithai’, it is like an experience. We wanted people to relate to Vadilal, as a brand, and experience something new.”

The café uses the most loved Vadilal flavours to make a completely different dish out of them.

Gandhi says that families and kids are amongst the frequent visitors to the café that has a fun ambience. For a slightly older generation, the café offers ice creams in natural flavours that don’t contain any artificial colours or fragrances.

The brand also operates other retail outlets, like ‘Vadilal Scoop Shop’ and ‘Vadilal Hangout’. But what makes this café different from the existing physical outlets of the brand?

Gandhi says, “Our parlours are more retail and product-focused. They are a way to connect with the consumers because, otherwise, we’re available in grocery stores and modern trade channels. These are a way to connect with the consumers on a one-on-one basis. However, the café is completely experience-focused.”

Gandhi believes that “the trend has now shifted from us going to the consumers, to the consumers coming to us.”

One may assume that the café only offers desserts or sweet dishes, but that’s not true. Savoury snacks, like nachos, pasta, noodles and spaghetti, are also a part of the menu. Some innovative dishes on the menu include ‘Kulchazzas’, which is a pizza with a ‘kulcha’ base, and a ‘Wafflewich’, a waffle and sandwich combination. The ‘Funflair frolic floss’, an ice cream cone with candy floss, is quite popular among kids.

While the café also has tie-ups with food delivery aggregators, like Zomato and Swiggy, Gandhi informs that at least 30 per cent of the menu can’t be picked up or delivered, and has to be enjoyed in the café itself.

She says that in Ahmedabad, the brand has been able to create quite a buzz for its café. In fact, the seating inside the café was so full last weekend that people had to eat in their cars or outside. The brand has collaborated with the food blogger and influencer community of the city to spread the word about its café.

The state of Gujarat is known for its very cluttered and competitive ice cream market. While traditional players like Amul, Havmor and Kwality have a very strong footing, the newer ones, like Giani and Naturals, tend to attract younger customers.

“No player has come up with such a concept (of a café). It took us a year-and-a-half, and we have taken care of every tiny detail, while coming up with this café. We also plan to update our menu regularly to give it a seasonal vibe. The aim is to not get diluted in the highly competitive market that we’re a part of,” Gandhi signs off.

Note: Vadilal Now forever is a new cafe brand under the flagship of Vadilal Enterprise Ltd. Legacy brand Vadilal is now branched out under different management leadership under different territorial responsibilities in India.