In my teenage days, my friends and I regularly found ourselves at Udders’ ice cream parlour after school hours and on weekends.As Easties, the Siglap outlet was our go-to hang out place, where many fond memories were made, and many scoops of ice cream were eaten.
Founded in 2007 by husband-and-wife duo David Yim and Wong Peck Lin, Udders is known for its bold and unusual flavours.In particular, my favourite was the Snickers, Mars, Honeycomb and Vanilla flavour, but the alcoholic concoctions, the likes of Rum Rum Raisin and Bailey’s & Bourbon, were also popular with Singaporeans in general.
When Udders was first founded, it made quite a stir with its alcoholic flavours.(Photo: Udders) Fifteen years since its first outlet was opened in Novena, Udders is still thriving.
In fact, it’s a sprawling business with six outlets and 350 retail points across Singapore, and most recently, a newly opened shop in Jakarta, Indonesia.
All that despite having to compete with a spate of new local ice cream brands that have popped up in recent years.The secret to the brand’s sustained success? Learning on the go, relentless innovation and marching to the beat of their own drum.
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The journey towards building Udders to what it is today was one filled with hard work and determination.
Prior to starting the ice cream business, neither Yim nor Wong had any experience in F&B.
At the time, Yim was working as a teacher while Wong was a consultant.
“We really learned on the job.
The first four months before we started, we spent many hours a day making a lot of ice cream in our kitchen.We were eating ice cream till the early hours of the morning.
That first four months was a bit crazy, but at the end of it, we were able to finalise 12 flavours, and that’s how we started our first shop,” Wong recalled.
The pair was driven by a desire to “do something different from our usual corporate jobs”, Wong added.“There were three reasons why we wanted to start Udders.
The first was to create something aligned with our personalities.The second was to create a business that could afford us financial freedom.And the third is to bless our staff with the financial returns we generate from the business.”
Fun fact: Before the couple eventually decided on ice cream, they were toying with the idea of starting a burger place.
“It was food for me,” shared Yim.“It just so happened that the ice cream machine I ordered came first before the burger maker did.So I started experimenting on ice cream.When the burger maker came, I just didn’t have time.”
Call it fate, but the decision certainly paid off.
“One of the reasons why we chose to do ice cream was because it’s a product that can be enjoyed by anyone around the world.It travels well across borders and can be scientifically controlled.
It’s not dependent on a chef, which is good for expansion.We could see the brand scaling,” Wong explained.
Beyond practicality, ice cream also brings joy to people, which is why the founders believe in the importance of having fun with the brand, as encapsulated in its signature bright orange hue, quirky branding and cheeky slogans.
“Life can be hard for some people, it can be very serious.But with ice cream and with the brand, if we can just help people to forget their troubles for a moment, I think we would have made our little contribution to making the world a better place,” Wong mused.
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Today, Wong oversees branding, marketing, business development and sales while Yim is in charge of outlet operations and product development.The pair fondly remember the early days of Udders.
“Our first shop [in Novena] was really small.It was only about 20 seats, 500 sq ft,” said Wong.
“That’s including the toilet,” Yim quipped as Wong continued, “Oh yes, so excluding toilet, about 400 sq ft.”
The first Udders outlet in Novena.(Photo: Udders) That tiny, hole-in-the-wall ice-cream shop has now evolved into a well-recognised homegrown brand.While this writer’s favourite Siglap outlet shut its doors in 2019, Udders’ retail footprint currently includes six stores across the island, including in Bukit Timah, Beach Road and Upper Thomson.
In 2018, the company expanded into manufacturing.
Udders ice cream pints are currently available at supermarkets such as Giant, Sheng Siong and Fairprice Finest, as well as convenience stores such as Cheers.
They are also available in the air on board Jetstar and Singapore Airlines flights.The latter is a “dream come true” for the founders.Commented Wong: “That was a big milestone for us.It was a long shot but we are glad it came through because it’s our national carrier, which happens to be one of the best in the world.”
Wong calls this expansion a “big shift in everything”.“We were going from just running shops to running a manufacturing operation.The logistics was a bit crazy, because we were now sending our products everywhere,” she said.
Having charted significant growth over the years, is there a recipe to the success of Udders? “We continually invest in R&D and product development,” shared Wong.To keep abreast of trends, the company continuously comes up with new flavours, including vegan flavours, low calories flavours and halal flavours.
“It is very important for us to be able to keep the business fresh and interesting.”
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Indeed, Udders’ online website touts more than 100 flavours.They range from standard flavours such as Cookies & Cream and Awesomely Chocolate, to more unusual flavours with an Asian twist, such as Singapore Chendol, Thai Iced Tea and Muah Chee.
Coming up with a new flavour can take between 10 and 50 tries and sometimes several years, “depending on how determined we are to get it right”, Yim revealed.“Our Botak Coconut flavour took around 50 tries.I tried 20 versions before giving up.We waited another two years before trying again.
Finally in the third round, we succeeded.”
Udders has a wide range of flavours, from the standard chocolate flavours to more unique ones with an Asian twist.(Photo: Udders) Udders also regularly collaborates with local brands.Its collaboration with beauty brand Kinohimitsu sparked the creation of what is touted as the world’s first collagen ice cream.The company also teamed up with Brewerkz to come up with beer-infused ice cream flavours.
View this post on Instagram A post shared by Udders Ice Cream (@uddersicecream).