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Polina Butsenko from Toppedwith chats to healthy vegan ice-cream makers Yorica!
From the minute I stepped in I knew straight away that this is love at first sight. Not only have Yorica! found the way how to make ice cream taste extremely delicious, but it’s also healthy too. This means you can have more of it without any guilt or harm to your body. I could not contain my excitement. I really wanted to learn more about the people behind this awesome product. So I got together with Monika who is a managing director at Yorica!.
So, Monika, first thing first. Could you please tell me how did you come up with the name?
Whenever people come through the door and realise it is 100% free from and they can have anything they like without counting the calories or looking at allergy sheets. We call that moment “Yorica!”, which is the play on the word “Eureka”.
That’s exactly what happened to me. I couldn’t help but admire the design, so much character and love. Did you have a specific vision for Yorica! or was it something that came together naturally?
Because Yorica!’s vision was always to be free from, we felt like “go with the flow” vibe would suit Yorica! the best. We were inspired by 60s and 70s, “love peace and unity” style, which is also reflected in our choice of music. We also have a VW camper van (Daisy) that we roll out on events and serve free from ice-cream.
So many tasty options. I wonder how do you choose your flavours and what is your recipe development process like?
We have our innovation meetings where we get together at the big table and share ideas. We always manage to finish with the long list of flavours that we want to introduce in the future. Of course, we are trying to be creative, introducing new flavours to the market e.g. violet flavour. Having that wow factor is important to us. This year we are going to concentrate on seasonal flavours and trying to be sustainable. We also actively listen to our followers on Instagram where we constantly ask for your input.
It’s so nice to see that you guys are talking to your fans. What do you think is the secret behind Yorica!’s success?
We always had a clear vision of where we are heading. People put a lot of trust into us and we have this duty of care on delivering on this clean product that also tastes amazing. We do not take any shortcuts. For example, if the supplier starts to handle nuts, we would stop using them and start looking for a new one. We are as thorough as we can be, yes it does take more effort, but the end result is definitely worth it. Every single Yorica!’s employee shares the same love and passion towards the product which made us a success. We are all proud of what we do.
You mentioned that there is a vision for Yorica!, so what is in store for 2017? What can we expect?
The main idea is to be accessible throughout the country. We are very excited to get our product into various healthy retailers in the UK so the ones that can’t travel to London can still enjoy our 100% free from ice cream. We are working tirelessly to meet that goal. We do not want to compromise on the experience for the guest that haven’t had the ice cream before and we truly believe that we are making a difference.
Our VW camper van Daisy will target events and festivals that will be happening around London. It will also be available for hire for parties and weddings.
It is always nice to meet someone with so much passion and love towards what they do. Thank you, Monika, for your time. I have a last cheeky question. Will we see a pineapple flavoured ice cream?
Potentially yes, we might even name it after you!
