Think milkshakes and ice creams and Keventers is one name that springs to mind immediately. The 96-year-old iconic dairy brand was created in 1925 but was re-imagined in its current avatar by Agastya Dalmia, Aman Arora and Sohrab Sitaram. The nostalgia factor aside, the brand has also managed to strike a chord with the modern-day consumer. While their milkshakes were alwayspopular, Keventers has also expanded their dessert footprint with their Ice Creamery with six exciting flavours, to begin with. Agastya Dalmia, CEO & Director, Keventers, talks about creating products that consumers can trust and what they hope to achieve with the brand in the days to come.
Keventers is a brand with a 96-year-old legacy but you revamped it in 2015. Can you tell us why you thought of doing that? What was your strategy?
The strategy was simple – this is a brand that has been around since the 1920s and was loved by every single person living in Delhi at some point. It deserved to be brought back to life, in all its original glory. We were just the conduits for this. The Dalmia family 
owned the rights to the brand, so in a way, we became its gatekeepers.
Six years from then, how has the brand managed to bring back its lost glory and are you happy with the progress it has made?
We are thrilled with the progress. There have been forks in the road along the way where we had to decide between keeping the original branding and moving towards a more modern, Indian vibe. Our hearts have always been with the original, nostalgic aesthetic of the brand, so we have worked to keep that alive.
You started ice cream packs two years ago and now with Keventers Ice Creamery, what is it that you hope to do?
There is a need for really good ice cream. We aim to deliver. The responsibility of any brand in any category or segment is to bring the best possible product or service to its consumers, and that is exactly what we are aiming for with the Ice Creamery.
With so much competition in the market today when it comes to ice cream brands, what according to you is Keventers’ USP?
It’s all about quality and a trusted brand name. The fact that our history has given our name so much weight, we cannot disappoint our consumers. It’s about so much more than the bottom line. It’s about creating a product you will reach for with your eyes closed at the grocery store.
Social-media and technology play a major role today in marketing and positioning the brand in a certain way. What has Keventers’ approach been in that aspect?
We try to retain our heritage with a little gen z flavour. We love making our reels and colourful creatives, but Mr. Keventer is always at the heart of everything we put out there. This lends a personality to the brand.
Today, Keventers’ presence is in India, Nepal, Dubai, Sharjah and Kenya. In terms of expanding your global footprint, what is the plan for the next few years?
In India, we should get to 700+ outlets over the next 4-5 years – these will be a mix of our current format stores, dark kitchens and larger experiential cafes across key strategic locations. Additionally, with ‘Keventers Ice Creamery’, we will scale to 300+ locations, largely dominated by dark kitchens and virtual outlets. D2C will also play a key role going forward and it is a segment we are going to focus heavily on, not just for our current product portfolio but also for a whole host of allied products.
Outside India, the possibilities are endless, especially given the huge Indian contingent across key markets such as the US, UK, Canada, Australia and the Middle East. We have had numerous enquiries from entities that wish to take a licence to operate the brand across these countries, but have so far been cautious because what is more important than anything else is to find the right business partner who can establish and scale the business in these territories. There are several talks underway here and we’ll be happy if we can reach 500 outlets outside India by 2025.
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