Frostreats’ ₹1.4 Cr Traction: How a Zimero Intern Created a Category-Disrupting Dog Treat Empire

When Uday Verdi Jain spotted a dog devouring vanilla ice cream at a summer 2024 party; snout covered in white, eagerly scanning for more flavors, it sparked both fascination and concern. Regular ice creams aren’t safe for dogs, yet pets pant through India’s scorching 40-50°C summers with just ice cubes or biscuits. That observation became the catalyst for something unprecedented in India’s pet industry.

Interning at Zimero Gourmet Private Limited, which already made sugar-free human ice creams, Uday led two months of intensive market research, vet consultations, and formulations to launch Frostreats on August 1, 2024 – India’s first ready-to-eat, vet-approved pet ice cream from their Okhla Phase 1, New Delhi base. Fourteen months later, the brand has achieved ₹1.4 crore turnover, 9,000+ website buyers with 4,000 repeat customers, 52% retention rate across 9 cities, and partnerships with 45+ offline partners.

From Intern to Innovator

Frostreats operates as a bootstrapped vertical under Zimero, mentored by IIM Lucknow alumnus Sumant Bhargava, whose 30 years in FMCG, manufacturing, and branding shaped its path to becoming India’s only real dog ice cream brand. The lean team reflects complementary strengths: Yateendra handles business, manufacturing, and sourcing; Manish leads distribution and performance marketing under Sumant’s guidance; and Uday, who evolved from 2024 summer intern to Product Lead, oversees strategy, distribution, marketing, and market expansion.

“This shared drive to pioneer honest-ingredient products like Zimero’s Cone Bites or eccentric flavors fuels our envelope-pushing ethos,” Uday explains. The connection to Zimero’s existing sugar-free ice cream expertise proved crucial, providing manufacturing infrastructure and formulation knowledge that accelerated product development.

Category Creation Through Relentless Testing

Positioned as a healthy, cooling indulgence, Frostreats offers six sugar-free, human-grade flavors at ₹140 each, plus add-ons like dog waffles (₹50-150), with bundles designed for trials. But achieving the current 90% “lick rate” meaning nine out of ten dogs enthusiastically consume the product, required eight formulation iterations tested across breeds.

“Category skepticism was our biggest initial hurdle,” Uday recalls. “People couldn’t understand why dogs needed ice cream or whether it was safe.” The team tackled this through packaging education, vet endorsements, and viral dog videos showing genuine reactions. Launch leveraged Zimero’s customer base (though overlap proved just 5%, not the assumed 75%), 10+ pet events, and 25 pet-friendly cafés, yielding overwhelming response beyond novelty appeal.

The product’s ready-to-scoop format distinguishes it from competitors offering mixes or popsicles. Frostreats requires no preparation, parents simply open the container and serve. The plastic-free, human-grade ingredients and vet approval address safety concerns while the sugar-free formulation ensures health-conscious pet parents feel confident about regular purchases.

Smart Pivots and Distribution Innovation

Initial assumptions about customer overlap with Zimero’s human ice cream buyers dropped dramatically from 75% to 5%, prompting strategic pivots. The team established separate e-commerce channels on frostreats.com, added checkout options on third-party platforms, and emphasized modern trade, pet resorts, spas, and supermarkets; avoiding cannibalization while building independent credibility.

The breakthrough came through Frostreats’ innovative freezer rental model, which solved offline storage challenges in pet stores and cafés. By providing freezers to retail partners, the company recovered costs in under six months at high-traffic locations like Le Marche in Chanakya Mall, Delhi, and Anil’s 22 in Chandigarh. This infrastructure investment drove massive orders and established reliable distribution without requiring partners to invest in specialized equipment.

“No direct competitors exist for our no-mix, plastic-free, ready-to-scoop ice cream,” Uday notes. “Indirect rivals offer mixes or popsicles, but nothing matches our convenience and safety profile.” This positioning, combined with strategic pricing that balances value and competitor parity, enabled profitability across Zomato, Swiggy, and freezer locations.

The distribution strategy deliberately targeted pet-friendly venues where dog parents already gather; cafés, resorts, spas – creating natural discovery moments. With 2,200-2,400 daily viewers on digital channels and strong word-of-mouth, the brand built momentum without heavy advertising spend.

Vision Beyond Ice Cream

Frostreats’ ambition extends beyond frozen treats. The brand aims to dominate India’s pet treats market by creating joyful pet-parent moments from post-work treats to match-day scoops with the family. Partnership with NGOs like Pooch Tales has built a 350+ member community focused on adoptions and welfare under the ethos “We love ALL TAILS,” emphasizing inclusivity across breeds and backgrounds.

Upcoming milestones include aggressive Mumbai expansion (recently launched), nationwide offline collaborations, dog waffles rollout across markets, and ambitious acquisition and retention targets in all nine operating cities. The goal: positive EBITDA by 2027 while maintaining the quality and innovation that defined early growth.

“Stay dynamic amid endless entrepreneurial challenges like unit economics and bundling,” Uday advises, reflecting on lessons from rapid scaling. The team continuously iterates on pricing strategies, bundle configurations, and retention tactics while managing the complexity of cold chain logistics and perishable inventory.

Building a Movement

What distinguishes Frostreats isn’t just product innovation but the emotional connection it creates. Pet parents share videos of their dogs’ first Frostreats experience; tails wagging, bowls licked clean, disappointed faces when it’s finished. These authentic moments drive organic growth more effectively than traditional marketing.

“Identify market gaps, cater to them, and back your instinct,” Uday advises aspiring entrepreneurs. Inspired by established players like Heads Up For Tails, Zigly, and Supertails, Frostreats differentiates through FMCG rigor, ensuring pets love the product while parents get hassle-free, heartfelt education about ingredients, safety, and benefits.

The brand’s rapid traction, ₹1.4 crore in 14 months with 52% retention, validates both the market gap and execution quality. As India’s pet industry grows and pet parents increasingly seek premium, health-conscious products, Frostreats is positioned not just as a treat brand but as a category creator defining what safe, joyful pet indulgence looks like.

From a summer party observation to India’s first pet ice cream empire, Frostreats proves that the best startups solve problems we didn’t know existed until we see dogs desperately seeking that next scoop.

Discover more at frostreats.com