Bengaluru engineer develops dairy-free millet ice creams, smoothies and coffees; clocks Rs2 lakh monthly turnover

During the lockdown, Gautam Raikar came across an advertisement for vegan millet ice creams. It intrigued him because he was already making millet cookies and rusk. But dairy-free millet ice creams were unfamiliar to him.

He decided to start R&D on dairy-free millet ice creams with extremely low sugar content and zero preservatives. “We began our research and development work in a small unit in 2021. However, the biggest hurdle was getting the smooth and creamy texture of dairy ice creams,” Gautam tells 30Stades.

Why is it difficult to make millet ice cream?

Millets are coarse grains because their outer covering is rough, unlike rice or wheat. This is due to their high dietary fibre. However, they are among the healthiest whole grains because they are alkaline, gluten-free and packed with proteins and antioxidants.

Also Read: Mangaluru: India's ice cream capital

Gautam tried various permutations and combinations of four types of millets – sorghum, foxtail, pearl and finger millet with chocolate, mango and other ingredients. However, the texture or taste was never right.

“We spent a lot of time refining the texture. And we did not want to add more than 5 to 12 percent sugar to retain the product’s health value. That led to many challenges, which took a lot of time as there was no precedent,” he says.

“Every trial batch we made would fail on some parameter or the other and end up as the feed for cows because nobody was willing to try millet ice creams. After a point, even cows stopped eating them,” he says laughingly.

These trials continued until June 2023, when Gautam, a bachelor in engineering, got the recipe right and rolled out millet ice creams under the Liki Foods brand. 

It uses almond milk and cashew milk apart from other ingredients to make dairy-free millet ice creams.

“This is the ice cream of the future. As more and more people avoid sugar and turn vegan, millet ice cream like ours will capture a bigger market,” Gautam says.

India Vegan Ice Cream Market Overview: The India vegan ice cream market size reached 28.77 million dollars in 2024 and will reach 50.33 million dollars by 2033, according to research firm IMARC Group.

Liki Foods currently offers 12 flavours of millet ice creams, smoothies, shakes and coffee frappes, and clocks a turnover of Rs 2 lakh monthly. 

Also Read: Jodhpur entrepreneur builds Rs1.5 crore millet cookies business, exports to Gulf countries

Overcoming marketing challenges

Liki Foods has an outlet in Malleshwaram in Karnataka and also sells through three other retailers, besides supplying in bulk to office canteens and for events. It has a 2500 sq ft manufacturing unit in Yelachenahalli with a monthly production capacity of 50,000 litres of non-dairy millet ice cream.

“Once our products were ready in June 2023, we decided to showcase them at a four-day exhibition by Gandhi Krishi Vigyana Kendra (GKVK) in Bengaluru instead of a retail launch. They gave us a stall and the ice creams received an excellent response,” he recollects.

This gave him confidence that the ice cream would find a market despite being low on sugar and a little less smooth than the other commercial brands. Liki Foods rolled out millet ice creams in flavours like black currant, Alphonso (mango), guava, chocolate, strawberry and more in pack sizes of 100ml, 1 litre and 4 litres.

“However, when we approached the local retailers, they had two demands – one, they wanted to stock a variety of products like cones, cups, and ice candies, which we did not have. And they all demanded a freezer for stocking, but we had not budgeted for it. We backed out as it was risky,” the millet entrepreneur recollects.

At this stage, Gautam began exploring other markets. “We started spreading the word about our ice creams through friends and social media. This got us orders for weddings, birthday parties, housewarming and other occasions with bulk requirements,” the millet entrepreneur says.

Also Read: IIM grad quits Mahindra Tractors to start a healthy food business; clocks Rs1.2 crore turnover and 150% annual growth

Liki Foods’ products contain real fruit pulp and nuts, apart from millets. It is a zero-cholesterol product and appeals to health-conscious consumers. “With the right ingredients, our sales began to increase. Now we have given freezers to some of our retailers too,” Gautam laughs.

Liki Foods also receives bulk orders from canteens of technology companies in the IT capital.

“We will open more company-owned outlets and expand our retail partners soon. With a rising awareness about healthy eating and the goodness of millets, the demand is increasing,” the food entrepreneur says.

The price for ice cream starts at Rs 90 for a 100 ml pack. The 4-litre pack starts at Rs 700 and goes up to Rs 1300 depending on flavours. “We are set to launch a millet cone ice cream and two new flavours this season – kachcha aam (raw mango) and jackfruit,” he adds.

Liki Foods has tie-ups with farmer producer organisations (FPOs), which supply naturally-grown millets to the company. “We regularly attend agriculture events, meet farmers and FPOs and check their certification, sourcing only 100 percent naturally-grown millets,” he adds.

(US Anu is a Madurai-based writer. She specialises in stories around human interest, environment and art and culture.)

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