Childhood memories of ice-cream carts ‘itim Lamoon’

After graduating from Chulalongkorn University’s faculty of architecture in 2004, Danupon started to learn how to produce home-made ice cream as a hobby. At that time, he worked as an interior designer for a private company.
“I recognised at that time that home-made ice cream could be a good business, as there were few competitors in the marketplace. Iberry was the only major player in the home-made ice-cream segment,” he said.
“I’m quite nationalistic and wish that Thai people [would support] Thai products. I reminded myself of the past when I was young and saw street carts selling coconut ice cream. I recognised that there were many people like me who would love to have street ice-cream carts. What I have to do is to raise this image to the upper-class level,” he said.
Danupon said the first “itim Lamoon” ice-cream kiosk opened in August 2014 at CentralPlaza shopping mall on Rama III Road in Bangkok, after more than a year of research and development to make its products different from rivals in the market, with the focus on taste and hygiene.
“There are many ice-cream products available in the lower-end market. However, few players are in the upper-class segment and there is room in this segment. However, we need to make ice cream that is familiar to individual consumers,” he said.
“Thai consumers can eat phad Thai, a traditional stir-fried rice noodle dish commonly served as a street food and at casual local eateries in Thailand, every day. But they cannot eat spaghetti or Japanese foods on a daily basis,” he said.
Using its own investment, the company now has opened three itim Lamoon ice-cream kiosks, at CentralPlaza Rama III, Maharaj Pier and Mega Bangna. Meanwhile, two franchised outlets have also opened at Sathorn City and Crystal Market on Praditmanutham Road.
Danupon said he had tried to add emotional value to his ice-cream outlets at all touch points, such as the names of the menu items, flavours, toppings, and all the decoration items at the shops. Those elements would remind customers of when they were kids and enjoyed traditional coconut ice cream from street carts. This will help generate good feelings for customers when they visit the stores.
“My dream is to open itim Lamoon ice-cream outlets, whether kiosks or shops, at tourism destinations throughout the Kingdom, including Chiang Mai, Chiang Rai, Hua Hin, Cha-am, Pattaya and Phuket. I [would] love to see itim Lamoon recognised by Thais as a cool brand,” Danupon said.
He said the company was in the process of requesting Food and Drug Administration and Good Manufacturing Practices certification so that the products can be exported to neighbouring markets, such as Malaysia.
“I’m negotiating with a potential joint-venture partner in Malaysia on the possibility of exporting ice cream or opening itim Lamoon outlets in Malaysia,” he said.
Danupon said he hoped that his ice-cream business would generate annual sales of Bt30 million within three years. Between 15 and 20 outlets will be opened during the period, of which 60 per cent will be franchised and the rest company-owned.
The company posted Bt8 million in sales last year.