PE R S ONA L I T Y
PE R S ONA L I T Y
Ice- cream, anyone? Mao Shan Wang Durian may not be a flavour one would associate with ice-cream. But at Udders ice-cream cafés, it is one of the best selling flavours. We speak to alumnus Mr David Yim (NIE/2000), better known as the ‘Chief Milkman’ at Udders, on his experience in this ‘sweet’ business Some people may associate the brand Udders with ‘ice-creams for adults’, given its full range of liqueur-based flavours. As owner Mr David Yim explains, this is probably the reason for the brand’s success, made more so by Udders’ specialisation in flavours that are not easily found elsewhere. There are close to ten alcoholic flavours known to pack a punch at Udders. With interesting names such as Rum Rum Raisin™, Bailey’s & Bourbon™, Tira-miss-u™, amongst others, customers have been returning to the outlets to savour these flavourful desserts. Mr Yim had not planned to become an entrepreneur after graduation and even less so, to enter the ice-cream industry. Graduating from the National Institute of Education (NIE) in 2000, he taught for almost seven years before realising his other passion. “I enjoyed teaching whilst I was in the service, but after some time, I knew that I wanted to venture out on my own. It was in the last two years of my teaching career that I started reading books to enrich myself. This gave me the motivation and encouragement to start my own business,” he explains.
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Foodie at heart When Mr Yim decided to become an entrepreneur, he was certain that the business would food-related. A food lover himself, he was keen to start selling either ice-cream or hamburgers. After some deliberation, he chose ice-cream. “I spent four months learning all about ice-cream. There was lots of experimenting, tasting and eating. That probably explains my size!” chuckles Mr Yim. Since then, he has come up with 15 unique flavours which were launched in his first Udders café at Novena, when it opened in December 2007.
Word-of-mouth advertising
Whacky flavours
Being new in the business, Udders was not extensively marketed nor advertised. The first few months were slow and there were days when Mr Yim worried if they would survive. However, word-of-mouth advertising soon helped Udders gain its market share.
As soon as one enters an Udders café, one will be surprised by the many unique and sometimes whacky icecream flavours available. At any one time, the outlets carry at least 20 to 25 flavours. These flavours can be liqueurbased, Asian-ingredients-inspired such as Green Tea-rrific™, or even cosmopolitan types like Snickers Mars Honeycomb Vanilla™. At least one new flavour is created in the R&D kitchen of Udders every month.
“In the early days, we could not afford to advertise. Fortunately, we had repeat customers who brought their friends to our outlets. Our customer base grew, thanks to these loyal customers! For us, this kind of advertising proved to be very effective,” says Mr Yim.
Inspiring ideas
Today, Udders has a total of 5 outlets – Novena, Lorong Kilat, Siglap, Bukit Batok and Serangoon Garden. The largest outlet in Siglap seats 120 customers. All the research and development of ice-cream flavours is done at the Lorong Kilat outlet, where Mr Yim also conducts ice-cream workshops.
“I must thank our regular customers as they give us interesting ideas to work on. At the Novena outlet, there is a suggestion board where customers can tell us what kinds of flavours they would like to try. Based on these suggestions, we develop new flavours and most of the time, it is a success!” shares Mr Yim.
Mr Yim reveals that there are plans to have at least ten outlets in Singapore within the next two to three years, with intentions to take the brand overseas. Franchising Udders is also on the cards.
There is also a design philosophy at Udders, when creating new flavours. The taste must be intense and very little sugar is to be used. This helps to bring out the richness of the flavours.
The ‘Chief Milkman’ shares a little known fact about ice-cream. “All ice-creams contain air. Most ice-creams sold in Singapore have air which takes up about half of its volume. At Udders, it’s only one quarter. That explains the intensity of our flavours.”
Words of wisdom Like any wise chief, Mr Yim has words for those who may be keen to start their own business. He shares: “If you want to start something, you must have a very special or unique product. You cannot copy others as competition is fierce. And be prepared to work very hard, as you will be on your own. How much effort you put in will determine the success of your own business.” “I don’t settle for mediocrity as I have high standards and expectations for Udders ice-creams. If we create a new flavour and it doesn’t work out, we will have to continue trying until it is 100% perfect.” In 2010, Mr Yim signed Udders up for the Emerging Enterprise competition where over 400 entries were received. Udders was one of the top four winners.
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