Arun ice-creams new treat for the sweet-tooth |21 April 2005

A local franchise of popular Indian Arun ice-cream makers will on Friday launch their products with an ice-cream tasting session at the factory at the Providence Industrial Estate. Among those expected to attend are government officials, friends and family and shopkeepers from Mahe, Praslin and La Digue.

Arun ice-creams public relations officer Phillip Arissol told Business Nation that the promoter of the business, Ramu Pillay, decided to bring Arun to Seychelles after he was introduced to the ice-cream-making business in India about two years ago.

"Arun ice-cream provides us with the raw materials, including for packaging," Mr Arissol said.

The company is offering a total of 17 flavours, which include casata slices, choco-bars, ice-cream tubs of a variety of flavours and Italian and American sundaes, with prices ranging from R2 to R17.

"We are predicting that we will sell approximately 1,000 litres of ice-cream a day," Mr Arissol said, adding that the enterprise will also be taking special orders for weddings and other such occasions.

The factory is equipped with four mixers with a capacity of 200 litres per tank, capable of producing between 1,000 to 1,500 litres of ice-cream a day.
"We first boil the milk and then we add sugars, stabilisers, emulsifiers, milk powder and cream to get the base mix for all the ice-creams," factory manager Sathya Narayan said.

"A machine called a homogeniser then breaks down the lumps of fat in the mix, allowing the mix to have a smooth texture to it."

The ingredients are rapidly cooled down from 80 to four degrees Celsius for its next processing in the 'ageing tank,' where the mix is stored for six to eight minutes before it can be used for making the ice-creams, Mr Narayan explained.

A proportionate amount of air to ice-cream is pumped into the machine, which doubles the initial amount of ice-cream, he added.

"The ice-cream is then sent to cold storage for a minimum of 24 hours at minus 20 degrees Celsius before it can be transported to the shops," he said.

Arun ice-creams will be available in all shops as of next week.

Ishveen Singh