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interesting new flavors rather than making ordinary tasty wacky flavor, it still must rely on the creator’s towards our wacky ice cream. However, after a few
flavor throughout my career as a restaurant pastry chef. past professional experience to balance the overall weeks of opening and with the aid of different media
So when it comes to KÒri, I make quite a few adventur- taste. A deep understanding of the ingredients is ex- exposures introducing our concept and also highlight-
ous savory ice creams that I always wanted to try.” For tremely important so that you can have enough knowl- ing these wacky flavors, people are now excited to try
instance, the Nori seaweed flavor was just for fun for edge to “control” the ingredients and make it shine in all of them.”
Joane, as she personally loves eating nori chips, but now the ice cream, Subraina told us. Finding the balance between using advanced tech-
it has become one of K¨ri’s signature flavors. On the other hand, consumers also need to be nology to create innovative ice cream and serving the
Fresh local ingredients are also an essential inspi- encouraged to be adventurous with flavors. Subraina customers with delicious high-quality ice cream is also
ration for wacky flavor ice creams. Many niche ingre- said she would always ask customers to try them in the a lesson that any ice cream maker needs to learn. Even
dients are regional. It is only recognized by a small shop. “It is always difficult to accurately describe the though creating wacky flavor ice cream is exciting, ice
number of people living in the area. Discovering more taste or the texture in words. Therefore, we prefer cream entrepreneurs should not be too radical in inno-
local flavors is always Enjoy gelato’s brand mission. trying before buying.” Subraina told. Media, especially vation, especially for those technology-led ice cream
Many of their ice cream flavors contain local ingredients social media, is also an effective way to draw people’s entrepreneurs as Sobraina suggested. Focusing on the
all over China. For example, perilla is an unfamiliar attention and curiosity for wacky flavor ice cream. quality of the product is much more important for ice
ingredient for most Chinese people and is mostly only Joane told us: “At the beginning, people were skeptical cream brands to survive, especially if not in big cities.
consumed in Hunan province. However, Subraina suc-
cessfully infused it into the ice cream and made it one
of their most popular flavors. “We explore the possibil-
ities of these ingredients and maybe inspire people
through them as well.” She told us.
Finding the Balance Between Wacky and
Tasty

However, most of the time, the more well-known
the ingredients, the more widely accepted the more
niche the ingredients, it is difficult to find consumers
who can resonate even with the help of education. Sub-
raina told us that even though Enjoy Gelato has over
200 flavors, the most popular ones, such as strawberries,
chocolate, and vanilla, are still the most common.
The results of the 2022 consumer research show
that taste is the primary factor that Chinese consumers
consider when purchasing ice cream, accounting for
Inspirations Behind Wacky Ice Cream 86.2%. Also, according to the analysts at AIMC, al-
though new brands of ice cream have emerged in recent
To create a “wow effect” wacky flavor ice cream, years, consumers’ favorite flavors have basically fol-
ideas are always the core, especially for innovation. Most lowed their past habits.
of the time, past life experiences become inspirations. Of course, people won’t buy the idea only if they
It could be a delicious dish tasted during travel or a get convinced by the ice cream itself. To create a wel-
beautiful melody heard somewhere. It could be a book comed wacky flavor ice cream, it is crucial to balance
or a chapter. “All these things can be translated into being wacky and tasty. After all, you want to make ice
flavors,” Subraina stated. For example, the Indian Goose- cream that people could indulge in. There are some
berry Olive flavor was a reproduction of the Indian basic rules for matching ingredients, for example the
Gooseberry juice she accidentally tasted during her general direction of the taste, the sweet and sour ratio,
travel in Shantou, China. “The refreshing and sweet taste and the texture. Whatever wacky flavor you created; it
was almost unforgettable, so I came back to ask the fruit is still much based on the general matching rule to make
shop owner to teach me,” Subraina told us. sure it won’t get too weird.
For Joane, it is the same. Most of the flavors made Another essential element is sugar, Joane added.
in K¨ri are inspired by the amounts of sweets she has The amount of sugar put into the ice cream would affect
tried in Japan that might work well in ice cream as well. not only the flavor but also the basic texture of the ice
She reckoned: “I have been passionate about creating cream. Nevertheless, as Subraina reckoned, to make a

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