SCORES of people are queuing up in cars to lap up ice-cream made from the popular local almond fruit – and sold from a food truck in Riffa.
The unique flavour’s fame has spread far and wide, with ice-cream lovers from other GCC nations also driving up all the way for a taste of the cold fruity treat.
Cars line up more than half an hour before the opening of 009 Icecream in front of Al Salam Hospital, with the queue stretching all the way up to Al Estiqlal Service Station.
It sometimes takes more than half an hour to get served – but no one’s complaining.
In fact, the customers are so disciplined that they line up their cars on the side of the road, so as not to hinder the smooth flow of traffic.
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Owner and founder Saad Al Zayani, who operates the truck along with his brothers, told the GDN that they were completely “shocked at the positive response and influx of customers” as they rushed to meet the demand.
“We wanted to come up with an innovative summer ice-cream and not the usual strawberry, chocolate or vanilla flavours,” said the 33-year-old, who has been working in the food truck business since 2018.
“So we created an ice-cream from the popular local summer almond fruit and we were incredibly shocked at the popularity of our product and the high demand for it in Bahrain and the GCC.”
009 Icecream opened for business less than two weeks ago, and is already receiving orders from across the GCC.
“We use fresh almonds without any additions. We even have mango ice-cream made from fresh mangoes and we mix the two to give customers a sweet and sour experience for their tastebuds.”
According to Mr Al Zayani, they expected 20 or 25 vehicles to line up but were “pleasantly surprised” at the large influx as vehicles queued on the side of the road.
He said that they received offers from individuals from the GCC to take their product to Saudi Arabia and Qatar.
“We drove up all the way from Khobar in Saudi Arabia because we saw the sensational coverage of the food truck on social media platforms,” said a Saudi woman who did not want to be named.
“We thought if we queued up before the opening time, which is 5pm, then we wouldn’t have to wait but we waited in line for around an hour and it was completely worth it.”
Meanwhile, a Qatari man ordered 80 ice-creams and placed them in ice chillers in his jeep to take back to his family and friends in Doha.
“We drove four hours from Kuwait just to try the ice-cream and have dinner and then we will drive four hours back to Kuwait,” said a Kuwaiti man, waiting patiently in the queue.
“The product received sensational coverage across social media platforms and not just in Bahrain so we were encouraged to take the long drive just to try it.”
Others have come from Saudi Arabia, the UAE and Oman lining up to try “the summer ice-cream sensationally covered across social media platforms”.
“There are around 200 food trucks in this location and the influx of customers for our ice-cream has also meant good business for others,” added Mr Al Zayani.
“This exceeded all our expectations and the demand has increased for the almond fruit which in turn will help enhance the economic movement in Bahrain.
“Once the almond season finishes we have plans to create another ice-cream using Bahraini dates which will also be another unique flavour.”
According to Mr Al Zayani, Bahraini entrepreneurs are ‘bursting with energy’ but they require assistance from the government in terms of licensing and locations.
He urged the youth to pursue their dreams.
For more information visit @009_icecream on Instagram.
reem@gdnmedia.bh
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