This frozen Italian dessert heads to Asia looking for connoisseurs
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB121503086914623959 [2008-7-4]
Tag : ginger product
Grom displays large, densely written panels in its shops, educatingcustomers waiting in line about the provenance of each ingredient.Grom uses only a specific kind of mountain spring water, forexample, and it has bought its own organic fruit farm in Italy'snorthern Piedmont region in order to have full control over theingredients of its sorbets. The brand's popular Crema di Grom, anegg cream with chocolate and cookie bits, uses organically raisedeggs, chocolate from Ecuador and biscuits from Piedmont made withfive varieties of corn.
For its first location outside Italy, in May 2007, Grom pickedManhattan's Upper West Side -- "an area with a good dispositiontowards spending on high-quality food products," says Mr.Martinetti, 33 years old, who worked in winemaking before turningto ice cream. Last April, Grom opened its second New York store inthe West Village. Now, Grom is scouting locations in Tokyo, hopingto open a store there next year. A big test for Grom's business,however, is likely to come this summer when the company opens itsfirst store in Paris.
It will face established competition just around the corner, whereAmorino has been doing business for several years. Like Grom,Amorino was founded by two Italian friends who had no experiencemaking gelato. The first Amorino store opened in 2002 on thesmaller of the two islands that dot the Seine in the city's center,the Île Saint-Louis. There, Amorino goes head-to-head againstone of the oldest names in Parisian desserts: sorbet-makerBerthillon. "We sort of did it on purpose. If we could make itthere, we could make it anywhere," says Paolo Benassi, 42, abusiness partner of the store's founder, Cristiano Sereni.
Amorino puts more emphasis on in-store experience. Colored in ashade of pale brown and prominently displaying Amorino's logo, acone-carrying Cupid, all Amorino stores look alike. The walls aredecorated with bare stone and panels in solid walnut made by acarpenter in Reggio Emilia, the hometown of the company's twofounders. Amorino has specific requirements for stores, from theway lighting should fall on the vetrina -- the refrigerated counterwhere gelato is displayed -- to the minimum distance between eachof the elements in the store.
"The ice cream is what's important, but the store is nice andcute," says Andrea Sahyoun, a student from Brazil who stops atAmorino for Italian gelato every time she is in Paris. "I adoreAmorino," she says.
According to the founders, on a busy summer day, an Amorino storewill sell some 1,000 cups or cones, priced between 3 and 8, higher than most other ice-cream vendors in the city. Inthe winter, Amorino supplements its ice-cream sales with a wideselection of high-end Italian chocolates and candy. A box ofItalian bonbons sells for 29.
Amorino operates the majority of its 33 stores under franchises andhas so far stayed out of Italy, focusing instead on France. It alsohas one store in Barcelona and three in Shanghai. For the stores inShanghai, the Reggio Emilia carpenter supervised Chinese workers tomake the stores identical to the ones in Europe.
Mr. Sereni, 38, says he hopes to reach 100 Amorino stores in Francewithin the next five years, while also expanding in neighboringcountries like Germany.
Mr. Cocchi, whose Carpigiani business makes ice-cream machines inItaly, U.S. and China, says the Asian market is the next bigfrontier for gelato makers. The challenge, he says, is to lureconsumers to a dessert that they aren't used to. "Unlike in Europe,where gelato was introduced around five centuries ago, frozendessert is simply not yet part of the Asian tradition and way ofeating," says Mr. Cocchi.
Amore Gourmet Gelato co-founder Nayyer Hussain, 46, says Amoremakes and stores its ice cream with machines imported from Italy.The brand's ice-cream cones -- from Tiramisù to Guava sorbet-- sell for an average price of about a euro. That's more thandouble any local store's price, says Mr. Hussain. The biggerchallenge, however, is spreading the word among Indian customers,who prefer complex flavors like star aniseed with cumin and gingerto simple, traditional Italian flavors like pistachio or plain eggcream.
"It's fair to say that most Indians don't know about it," says Mr.Hussain. To fix that, Amore is starting with the vetrina, which Mr.Hussain calls "a completely new way of presenting your product,with sculpted and decorated gelato and flavors that change everyday."
Grom displays large, densely written panels in its shops, educatingcustomers waiting in line about the provenance of each ingredient.Grom uses only a specific kind of mountain spring water, forexample, and it has bought its own organic fruit farm in Italy'snorthern Piedmont region in order to have full control over theingredients of its sorbets. The brand's popular Crema di Grom, anegg cream with chocolate and cookie bits, uses organically raisedeggs, chocolate from Ecuador and biscuits from Piedmont made withfive varieties of corn.
For its first location outside Italy, in May 2007, Grom pickedManhattan's Upper West Side -- "an area with a good dispositiontowards spending on high-quality food products," says Mr.Martinetti, 33 years old, who worked in winemaking before turningto ice cream. Last April, Grom opened its second New York store inthe West Village. Now, Grom is scouting locations in Tokyo, hopingto open a store there next year. A big test for Grom's business,however, is likely to come this summer when the company opens itsfirst store in Paris.
It will face established competition just around the corner, whereAmorino has been doing business for several years. Like Grom,Amorino was founded by two Italian friends who had no experiencemaking gelato. The first Amorino store opened in 2002 on thesmaller of the two islands that dot the Seine in the city's center,the Île Saint-Louis. There, Amorino goes head-to-head againstone of the oldest names in Parisian desserts: sorbet-makerBerthillon. "We sort of did it on purpose. If we could make itthere, we could make it anywhere," says Paolo Benassi, 42, abusiness partner of the store's founder, Cristiano Sereni.
Amorino puts more emphasis on in-store experience. Colored in ashade of pale brown and prominently displaying Amorino's logo, acone-carrying Cupid, all Amorino stores look alike. The walls aredecorated with bare stone and panels in solid walnut made by acarpenter in Reggio Emilia, the hometown of the company's twofounders. Amorino has specific requirements for stores, from theway lighting should fall on the vetrina -- the refrigerated counterwhere gelato is displayed -- to the minimum distance between eachof the elements in the store.
"The ice cream is what's important, but the store is nice andcute," says Andrea Sahyoun, a student from Brazil who stops atAmorino for Italian gelato every time she is in Paris. "I adoreAmorino," she says.
According to the founders, on a busy summer day, an Amorino storewill sell some 1,000 cups or cones, priced between 3 and 8, higher than most other ice-cream vendors in the city. Inthe winter, Amorino supplements its ice-cream sales with a wideselection of high-end Italian chocolates and candy. A box ofItalian bonbons sells for 29.
Amorino operates the majority of its 33 stores under franchises andhas so far stayed out of Italy, focusing instead on France. It alsohas one store in Barcelona and three in Shanghai. For the stores inShanghai, the Reggio Emilia carpenter supervised Chinese workers tomake the stores identical to the ones in Europe.
Mr. Sereni, 38, says he hopes to reach 100 Amorino stores in Francewithin the next five years, while also expanding in neighboringcountries like Germany.
Mr. Cocchi, whose Carpigiani business makes ice-cream machines inItaly, U.S. and China, says the Asian market is the next bigfrontier for gelato makers. The challenge, he says, is to lureconsumers to a dessert that they aren't used to. "Unlike in Europe,where gelato was introduced around five centuries ago, frozendessert is simply not yet part of the Asian tradition and way ofeating," says Mr. Cocchi.
Amore Gourmet Gelato co-founder Nayyer Hussain, 46, says Amoremakes and stores its ice cream with machines imported from Italy.The brand's ice-cream cones -- from Tiramisù to Guava sorbet-- sell for an average price of about a euro. That's more thandouble any local store's price, says Mr. Hussain. The biggerchallenge, however, is spreading the word among Indian customers,who prefer complex flavors like star aniseed with cumin and gingerto simple, traditional Italian flavors like pistachio or plain eggcream.
"It's fair to say that most Indians don't know about it," says Mr.Hussain. To fix that, Amore is starting with the vetrina, which Mr.Hussain calls "a completely new way of presenting your product,with sculpted and decorated gelato and flavors that change everyday."
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