Sustaining a National Heritage Icon with F&N Creameries

by - Sunday, October 01, 2017

Our favourite ice cream maker from F&N Creameries is bringing back the Singapore old-school charms with ice cream pushcarts. Set amidst the bustling, fashionable shopping districts from the likes of Orchard Road to anywhere in your friendly neighbourhoods, these traditional
 ice cream pushcarts are a charming part of old Singapore that has managed to maintain its
popularity throughout the decades.



Preserving The Trade

Blink an eye and you may just miss them. Or rather zoomed past these ice cream uncles. However, such a trade has served its purpose by providing pedestrians with a respite from the blazing hot sun by offering enticing flavours of Asia such as durian and mango, sandwiched between soft, fluffy slices of bread, tasty wafers, or in a cup.

However, Singapore's landscape is rapidly evolving and with changes comes extinction. But before anything else, F&N Creameries is thus coming together to help preserve this charming and endearing Singapore icon. Together with the SMU Marketing Society, the F&N Ice Cream Brand Challenge 2017 was born.


About the Challenge

The brand challenge was designed to involve the next generation of Singaporeans to embrace and help their part to keep our ice cream ‘uncles’ relevant and independent. The challenge calls for
University and polytechnic students to lead the way in revamping the ice cream pushcart and
its business model, while retaining the appeal of the ice cream cart as a national icon, so that loyal customers, curious passers-by and tourists may continue to savour the delightfully
local desserts in years to come.

Students will have opportunities to wield their business knowledge and creativity in conceptualising feasible solutions and innovative marketing strategies for the revamp of the ice cream pushcart and its business model.


Hear What They Say!

Below is a mini interview I had with one of the six shortlisted final teams — LYVE, revealed on 22 September 2017.
Grand Finals was held on 30 September 2017 at the Singapore Management University.

Read what we talked about!
( Left to right: Ethan, Lester, Vivian, Yeo Khee)


1. LYVE stands for….?
LYVE stands for LIFE as we wanted to revolutionise these F&N Ice-Cream carts and give
them a new lease of life! Furthermore, when people think of F&N, they think of a brand that
is exciting and full of life! LYVE is also the starting letters of each of our names, and it was
apt that these alphabets, when put together, helped to also portray what this case was all
about.

2. How has the journey been? What preparations did the team make prior and what have
you learnt thus far?
The journey has been fulfilling although by no means easy. Through this case, we gained a
deeper understanding of the lives of these ice cream hawkers and found out a lot more
about these ice cream carts that we initially did not know of. Research and meeting up with
each other have certainly taken up additional time on top of our usual school work, but we
believe that the sacrifice will be worth it as we are trying to do our part to preserve Singapore’s
heritage.

3. What do you guys wish to achieve/advocate by the end of this competition?
Our aim from the start was to improve the lives of the ice cream hawkers, even in the
smallest way possible. We hope that our ideas will be able to revolutionise these carts to
preserve a part of Singapore's heritage, along with helping the uncles/aunties earn more!

4. Pushcart ice-cream or ice-cream cafes for a date? And why? ( Be honest :))
Ethan: I suppose ice cream cafes would be the easier option for youths these days. But I'm
an old soul so when I meet the one that can enjoy herself with simply push cart ice-cream I'd
know I've met a keeper.
Lester: Singapore is a very hot and humid country, as such, most of the time, I will select ice-
cream cafes for a date. However, I am open to either choice because after purchasing ice
cream from the pushcart, my date and I can always head to somewhere cooling, like the
indoors!
Vivian: Practically speaking, having a date in an ice-cream cafe would be more comfortable
(i.e. able to spend hours in an air-conditioned environment sitting and chatting). That said,
nothing worth having comes easy right? So to make the date more memorable, I'd go for
pushcart ice cream!
Yeo Khee: My answer will be push cart ice-cream for a more unique experience! Having a
ice-cream date in a cafe is way too mainstream. Pushcart ice-cream is enjoyed best sitting
by the pavement, people watching and listening to buskers.

5. As a millennial, how important is retaining the Singapore heritage/identity for you guys?
We believe that it is very important. Heritage/ identity gives us a sense of belonging and it is
essential that we retain these for future generations of Singaporeans to know more about
this country. Singapore is a relatively young nation, and if we do not preserve our heritage
now, then when? We believe that young adults have a crucial role to play as their energy
and creativity can help in ensuring Singapore’s heritage is retained.

6. How feasible is it to run a sustaining ice-cream cart business in years to come while not
losing its Singapore charms? Would you recommend young entrepreneurs to join in this
sunset industry?
We believe that after revolutionizing the ice cream cart business, people will be more aware
of and appreciate this form of ice cream that has made our heritage unique. Business will
definitely improve and there is a huge possibility for this to be trendy. We would definitely
recommend young entrepreneurs to join this industry, to do their business, and at the same
time, revolutionise Singapore’s heritage.

7. How has your institution/lecturers come forth in terms of lending their support to your team in this competition?
Our friends and professors have lent their support in any way possible. For example one of
our group mates were supposed to have a class this Saturday during the Finals of the Case
Competition but after letting the professor know that we had a case competition, the
professor gave him her approval and even offered to run through the lessons’ slides with him
next week so that he could focus solely on this case competition and catch up on his work
later on. Meanwhile, our friends have been equally supportive along the way by carrying out
little deeds like getting us snacks and drinks as forms of encouragement. Furthermore, the
organizing committee, SMarketing, has been very helpful in rendering their assistance
whenever we have queries. We are thankful to our friends, professors and SMarketing for
their help and understanding especially for the past 3 weeks.

8. Recommend any F&N Creameries’ ice-cream brands/flavours suitable for kids, adults and
the elderly respectively.
Kids: Magnolia - the colours and the fun designs on their packaging attract many kids.
Adults: JWEL – F&N Creameries’ premium brand, JWEL, will appeal to the adults as they
have the economic power to indulge in a slightly greater ice cream quality.
Elderly: King’s Potong – the traditional flavours like Red Bean, for example, will appeal more
to the elderly as these are desserts.

9. Share with us some interesting fun facts about F&N Creameries’ ice-cream that we do
not know about.
F&N Creameries’ have 4 different brands of ice cream under them: JWEL, King’s, Magnolia
and Meadow Gold. Meadow Gold is served in tubs whereas the other brands come in their
own individual packaging. F&N Creameries’ have ice cream for people of all ages and
brands for the different income levels.


Thanks guys for such engaging answers! 
Wishing team LYVE a fulfilling journey ahead and good luck for the finals.
(Updates: Team LYVE won the championship for the challenge. Congratulations guys)

For more information, on F&N Ice Cream Brand Challenge 2017: 




About F&N Creameries
F&N Creameries, an Ice Cream Division which is part of the Fraser & Neave group, offers a complementary portfolio of ice cream products to satisfy diverse consumer segments. The
company aims to become a leading ice cream player in the growth markets of ASEAN and
manages its own stable of established ice cream brands consisting of a portfolio of all-time favourites such as MAGNOLIA, KING'S, JWEL and MEADOW GOLD brands.
For more information on F&N Creameries, please visit www.fnncreameries.com


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