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Spreading Joy in Scoops and Pints
Pints of Joy, a desi-owned ice cream shop beloved by the residents of Sunnyvale, recently opened a brand new location in Fremont. They’ve been cranking out nostalgic, Indian-inspired flavors since the COVID years and have received a loyal following from all over the Bay.
On the day of their grand opening in Fremont, which was a warm, intimate gathering of friends, family and business associates, founders Ketki Dandekar and Arshiya Shaikh gave heartfelt speeches, cut the ribbon, and invited everyone to try a free scoop of ice cream. As Shaikh mingled with customers and attended to guests, Dandekar spoke to India Currents about the duo’s entrepreneurial journey, their inspiration, their customer base, and what the future holds for Pints of Joy.
The interview has been edited for brevity and clarity.
India Currents: What inspired you to start Pints of Joy during a pandemic? How were you able to turn it into a successful business during such a difficult time?
Ketki Dandekar: I used to make ice cream for many years at home. During the pandemic, both our families started podding together. We hung out together, our kids played together. Our kids knew each other from elementary school, so it was just natural that we came together. One day, when we were having ice cream at the dinner table, we thought that there was a lot of potential in having our ice cream tasted and enjoyed by more people. We decided to try out our idea with a test group. So we shared the ice cream with our family friends and received great feedback. That’s when we realized that this would make for a great business model.
IC: What challenges did you face building this business?
KD: The biggest challenge was starting and running the business during COVID; everyone was social distancing at the time. We first had to find a place where we could start making ice cream. Since everyone was shutting down restaurants and nobody was actively opening up new places, we found a small commercial kitchen. That’s where we started making ice cream, only in pints at the time.
The next challenge was sales and distribution. We had to market it ourselves and rely on customers’ word-of-mouth because sampling was not allowed. I think when people got to taste what we had, word spread fast. Within a year and a half, we realized we had to move to a bigger location where people could come in to enjoy and taste our ice cream.
IC: Is that why you decided to expand to Fremont? Why this location specifically?
KD: Our first location was in Sunnyvale—that’s where we opened in 2022. But we realized there were a lot of people from South Bay, specifically Fremont, Milpitas, San Ramon, Dublin, coming all the way to Sunnyvale. There was a lot of demand for our ice cream. Then this new, bright downtown area opened up in Fremont. So we decided to open here.
IC: Are you planning on expanding in the future?
KD: We would love to. We have some ideas of either opening up on the Peninsula or deep in the East Bay, closer to San Ramon or Dublin. But yes, definitely a couple more locations in the Bay Area before we stop expanding.
IC: Who are your primary customers – desi, non-desi, young, older? Are there any particular flavors that certain groups gravitate towards?
KD: So when we started, a lot of our flavors, which are inspired by our Indian heritage, were more familiar to the desi crowd. Our ice cream was similar to kulfi and local flavors that Indians are accustomed to. However, as we expanded, we started to see a great mix of Indian and non-Indian-origin folks, Asians – you know, a whole variety of people. We see large groups and families come in – there is something for everyone. The kids may enjoy a scoop of chocolate or Cookies n Cream, while the grown-ups may enjoy our bourbon toffee ice cream. So everyone finds their flavor.
IC: What are your most popular flavors?
KD: Alphonso Mango and Gulab Jamun. Our seasonal and festive flavors tend to be popular during specific seasons or festivals. For example, we have a Tilgul flavor, which is a peanut brittle and sesame ice cream. We always launch this flavor in January during the Sankranti festival. So in January, Tilgul is the most popular flavor.
IC: You offer your Sunnyvale outlet to other female entrepreneurs to display their offerings. Why?
KD: Yes, we have a little patio area for female entrepreneurs to advertise their business, as we’ve seen a lot of them trying to make it over the past few years. We want to help them however we can. We offer our space so they can give out samples to customers walking into our store or advertise their product.
IC: Pints of Joy has a partnership with Zareen’s in Palo Alto. Do you plan on having more collaborations with restaurants, cafes, or local businesses?
KD: Yeah, sure! If there’s an interesting venture that comes along that can advertise our ice cream in smaller locations of the Bay Area where we cannot reach immediately, we would love to partner with them.
IC: What’s in store for Pints of Joy in the future?
KD: We just want to keep creating great flavors and catch ongoing trends. For example, right now we have a Dubai Chocolate Sundae because it’s been a popular dessert lately. We want to give customers nostalgic flavors and trendy foods that they can’t find elsewhere.
IC: Speaking of which, what new flavors may we look forward to?
KD: For the summer, we usually have some interesting sorbets. We have a Green Mango sorbet, a Kokum sorbet, and a Jamun sorbet. We also have kulfi faloodas and funky drinks that are available in India during the summertime. The menu is always changing; we’re always putting up something new, something to look forward to!