Denada ice-cream to UAE

Sugar-free ice-cream brand Denada has hit supermarket freezers in the United Arab Emirates after its Perth-based founders signed a contract with Middle East supermarket chain Spinneys.

The frozen dessert is being sold at Spinneys stores and Waitrose supermarkets in the UAE in what marks the business’s first export deal.

The news follows the brand’s agreement in 2019 to sell in Coles supermarkets, and the addition of two dairy-free flavours to its range.

Co-founder and director of marketing and brand, Sophie Lawrence, said the business was excited about exporting Denada, and Spinneys had already reordered.

“It just shows people are taking to the product,” Ms Lawrence told Business News.

“We have zero brand awareness there, so the fact that we have already got a reorder from Spinneys is really promising.”

Denada chose the UAE as its first export market because it was a small country that could be used as a test market for further international growth.

“We were looking for smaller, easy-to-enter markets rather than trying to go global and get into a really cluttered market like America or the UK,” Ms Lawrence said.

She said while the owners had expected Denada would have felt an immediate economic impact from the COVID-19 pandemic, this had yet to occur.

“In recessive economic times, those nice-to-have items in your fridge take the hit; but I think that has balanced out with the fact that people are spending more time at home and looking to treat themselves,” Ms Lawrence said.

“I think it’s really balanced out for us but we will see what happens over the next couple of months.”

The business, which was started by pastry chef Charlotte Haygarth, former Olympic hockey player Jayde Taylor and Ms Lawrence, launched in stores in early 2018.

It has grown from producing 800 tubs of ice-cream a month to now producing between 25,000 and 60,000.

Although plans for the rest of the year were disrupted by COVID-19, Ms Lawrence said they were planning to increase distribution, and develop new flavours and potential new products.

“We plan on being not just a sugar-free ice-cream company, but a sugar-free, sweet treat and dessert brand.”