Passion project evolves into successful business

A venture that started as a passion project for creating ice cream recipes to indulge friends and family during a difficult period in the life of a former architect has evolved into a successful artisanal ice cream business. 

With a presence at various SUPERSPAR outlets, popular stockists, hotel groups and high-end restaurants, the Johannesburg-based business plans to grow its customer base to offer premium ice cream to consumers in various cities in the country.

Established in 2019 by Kamal Manilal, Roska Artisan Ice Cream has experienced a steady growth, enabling it to employ 12 people.

Manilal started making ice cream in his home with an ice cream machine he had received as a gift from a friend 14 years prior. 

“Just before the COVID-19 pandemic, I was going through a rough patch in my career. There were quite a few retrenchments that were being implemented. It was a very taxing time in my life as I had just lost my father.”

At the time, he had also recently completed his Master of Business Administration.

“One morning as I was on Facebook and a picture of an ice-cream machine appeared on my feed.”

This inspired Manilal to use his ice-cream maker and explore recipes. 

“I started making ice cream and I took it to work for tasting.  I started getting orders,” he said.

In March 2020, Manilal posted pictures of the ice cream on Instagram, which generated interest from consumers. This move took his business to greater heights.

“Before I knew it, I was making ice-cream at home. In October 2021, I realised that I needed more space so I decided to move into a commercial property to start making ice cream on a bigger scale. Since that time, we have on-boarded 140 customers and we are now in our second premises because we outgrew the first premises,” he said. 

The journey of building Roska Artisan Ice Cream  has not been easy as there were hurdles that the business had to overcome. 

 “The biggest challenge is cash flow. To start the business, we needed to have an investor to fund freezer rooms, generators and facilities. Cash flow is very important because sometimes you are not paid on time but the business still needs to cover the expenses for production, rental and utilities. We also used our corporate savings to fund the business to buy the machines that we needed,” he said. 

Manilal co-founded the business with his wife Roshni Morar, who has played a fundamental role in positioning the business's brand.

With capital being essential in running a business, the Department of Trade, Industry and Competition (the dtic) funded the expansion and growth of the business for about 30% while a private investor paid for the rest.

“The highlight of our journey has been moving into our second premises. We have proper facilities that include offices, freezer rooms for storage, and an industrial generator. When we showcased the product at the Paris Food Show, the chief executive officer of Checkers saw our product and offered our company an opportunity to work with them. We now have a store inside the Checkers Hyper in Sandton City,” he concluded.¥