Cold Stone Creamery has announced its entry into India and Sri Lanka. Kahala Brands, the parent company of the Cold Stone Creamery brand, has joined forces with Tablez Food Company, part of Lulu Group International, LLC, to bring the “Ultimate Ice Cream Experience” to the ice cream lovers of India and Sri Lanka. The first store will open by the end of the year at the Lulu Mall, a premier mall in Kochi, India. Over the next five years, 40 locations in India and five locations in Sri Lanka are in the pipeline.
“Tablez Food Company is a leading organization in India and is a perfect fit for the Cold Stone Creamery brand," says Eddy Jimenez, senior vice president of international operations and development at Kahala. "They specialize in unique, home-grown, and international cuisines, and have acquired the rights to many leading franchise concepts. Tablez Food Company is dedicated to seeking out concepts that bring inspiring experiences to their customers. With 40 Cold Stone Creamery stores planned over the course of the next five years, we know this will be a great market for accelerated growth."
Lulu Group International LLC is diversified in retail, imports and exports, trading, shipping, IT, travel and tourism, and education. Tablez Food Company is operating multiple food and beverage brands spanning across India, Sri Lanka, and the UAE.
"Cold Stone Creamery offers the best quality product and offers an amazing in-store experience that the international market has embraced for a number of years," says Shafeena Yussuf Ali, chairperson at Tablez Food Company. "We now want to bring this unique experience to the India and Sri Lanka markets where we strongly believe that people will embrace not only the quality of the product, but also the overall guest experience. We are proud, privileged, and excited to bring the brand to India and Sri Lanka."
"Over the next five years, Tablez Food Company plans to invest around $11 to 13 million in the Cold Stone Creamery business across India and Sri Lanka. We plan to open the first Cold Stone Creamery at Lulu Mall in Kochi in November this year, followed by a few stores in Bangalore and subsequently other cities in India and Sri Lanka over the coming years," adds Shafeena Yussuf Ali.
Cold Stone Creamery has continued to make strong key moves into the international market in recent years. The international growth of Cold Stone Creamery began in November 2005 when the company opened its first international store in Tokyo, Japan. Today, Cold Stone Creamery stores are operating in nearly 300 international locations and more than 25 countries, including the Philippines, Cyprus, Kuwait, Qatar, Trinidad, Nigeria, Egypt, and Indonesia.
