The River Noyyal and its associated water bodies have enriched Coimbatore. Thanks to the rulers of the yonder era who connected these ponds which used to glitter like aquamarine.
Anand and Vidya stay at the old farm house with their son Tarun Anand, the founder of Sticksy.
Tarun is a very young entrepreneur and had been on a cycling tour of the south covering 2700 kilometres in the recent past. The youngster had done his schooling at Vidya Niketan in Coimbatore and his higher education at Manipal University. Tarun had done a 3 year programme at Manipal - B.A ( Culinary Arts ).
Tarun spoke about his venture from his tastefully kept home. " I was looking at hydroponic farming and a few other options. Finally I zeroed in on STICKSY.
We are now manufacturing stick based ice creams in our farm itself. Nine flavours are available and they are Ice milk ( plain milk with a hint of vanilla ), Rosemilk ( similar to the rosemilk available ), Mango ( real mango ), Strawberrry ( real chunks of it are used ), Filter Coffee ( 100 % filter coffee ), Cookies & Cream ( Oreo cookies with a cream base ), Honey Banana ( real banana & honey ), Blueberry Yoghurt ( with real blue berries ), Inside Out ( the opposite of Chocobar ). The products weigh 75 grams and 3 flavours are priced at Rs.40 and the rest at Rs.50.
Well, we are working out on a few water based flavours as well. My research is based on academic experience and reading. I am grateful to my parents for their support, " smiled the youngster while showing his products.
Tarun had wanted to build something all by himself. The production is done manually and he hopes to scale it up eventually. Most of his clients are third party retailers and he is keen to expand further by putting up kiosks. He calls his venture a Start Up and wants to franchise his way to growth.
" Our company is known as Lacto Factory and we have applied for a trademark. The product was launched officially during the 2019 edition of the Coimbatore Vizha. It was done at the Food Street in Codissia.
We were also found in the Art Street event on Race Course and people welcomed our initiative. Our ice creams are available in Cosmopolitan Club and the Coimbatore Club. I hope to get on with an exclusive outlet in a place with good footfall. About 6 more flavours are in the pipeline for now. These stick ice creams are moulded in the farm itself. We are in the process of tying up with ' Swiggy '. Our freezers maintain the stick ice creams and the big ones hold 520 sticks while the smaller ones can hold 150. Gel cold packs help us to maintain the temperatures, " added Tarun, the budding entrepreneur.
The family had grown with the home which is fitted with Tata Steel girders. His great parents Ramakrishnama Naidu & Kamalam, grandparents Seethapathy & Amirtham, grand aunt Sathyabama Balakrishnan, parents Anand & Vidhya , aunts, cousins and the rest of the family had spent quality time in the quaint old home which has a well nearby. The house is strewn with quite a few freezers full of STICKSY ice cream sticks.
Tarun is busy after spending 29 days cycling during his ' chill period '. He had been to Bengaluru, Goa, Hyderabad, Vijayawada, Chennai, Pondicherry, Villupuram and a few more places on his cycle. The trip has definitely added to the entrepreneurial spirit in the youngster. Tarun relaxes himself in the company of Aniruddh, Juzar, Raghav and Aditya. He is now trying to work out the logistics for Chennai and other centres. The logo design was done by Soumya Sailendra and Tarun has got it emblazoned on the freezers and the packing material.
Tarun Anand gave assures that the sugar level in the STICKSY ice cream sticks are not high when one compares them to the other products found in the market. Well, that's really sweet of him.
Tarun will find his success to be sweet and Coimbatore will be happy to see this new start up grow up into a magnificent venture.