We test, Tinker and innovate everyday.
We use local organic dairy and eggs from Straus Family Creamery in Sonoma & organic coconut milk and tree nut bases for our vegan flavors.
Koolfi, the name and the flavors, are an homage to the spiced and nutty Indian ice popsicles “Kulfi”, and to the “cool” fusion-food culture of our Bay Area! Our flavors reflect the traditions, and culinary wisdom of generations of women home chefs in our founders’: Priti’s South Indian, and Mads’ Indo-German families.
We soak, grind, cook and infuse complex Indian flavors like Kulfi – with saffron, cardamom, rosewater and nuts – into our french custard base of organic eggs and 100% grass-fed dairy sourced from our local Straus family farm. Our creamy coconut milk, and nut-butter-based vegan flavors are made from scratch and inspired by the traditional South Asian desserts made from coconut and nuts. We pride ourselves in choosing a no-dairy, no-egg, vegan base to best highlight the nuances of each flavor.
We source unprocessed, real ingredients from California farms to bring you the freshest flavor possible with every lick and partner with local, family run wholesale importers. We taste-test our ice creams continually so we incorporate the most flavorful aromatic spices available in our ice cream.
Slow churned in our shop in San Leandro, all our ice creams have very little air, resulting in very smooth texture, strong flavors and lot more of ice cream in each scoop! We then layer in homemade Indian desserts – like Mysore Pak (a Royal Ghee Fudge), Cashew Chikki (Pralines); fresh sauces, and toasted nuts that bring a delightful textural explosion to every bite! As ice cream engineers, we test, tinker and innovate every day. This has led to creating the-first-in-the-world gluten-free, fermented Dosa Waffle Cones! More to come, we promise!
After a bus accident, our founders, Mads and Priti, started Koolfi in 2018, by rolling a small ice cream cart to weddings and ice cream socials and it was a big hit! We still love catering events but now we also have two shops where you can get a scoop – in San Leandro and downtown SF. Additionally, you can pick up our pints locally at a dozen mom-n-pop stores around the bay or have it home delivered through food delivery apps.
Our Founder Priti
Priti’s introduction to fusion started in pig tails when her South Indian mom would replace ingredients in a traditional sweet and sour mango sauce with locally available North Indian ingredients including fresh tart apples. Priti has carried this sense of delight and adventure that often accompanies testing and pairing unconventional flavors. She expanded on it through her journey from the Indian cities of Chennai, Mumbai and Surat to the international melting pot that is the SF Bay Area.
Having fallen in love at first bite with Ben n Jerry’s Chunky Monkey, Priti believes rich creaminess of premium quality ice cream provides a fantastic canvas to showcase strong spices, unique dessert crumbles and sauces from her culinary heritage. Also inspired by local food scenes from around the world, she creates all the flavors at Koolfi Creamery. She loves meeting her fellow ice cream lovers, and sharing the gospel of ice cream.
Our Founder Mad
Mad’s fascination with food from around the world started early in her biracial home. Her mom was famous for her Indo-German versions of those famous German cakes like Mango Tortes and Cashew “kuchen”. Mads finished hotel school on the French- German border along the Rhine, and followed that with an undergraduate degree in San Francisco in Hotel Management.
Mads is a killer kebab maker, cooking up sizzling delicacies in her backyard Tandoor, and pairing those with some good German and Czech beers. She is an avid foodie, loves to travel, and loves her dual roles of chief taster, and business administrator.
For over 25 years, Mads has remained deeply committed to LGBTQ advocacy work. She and Priti had the privilege of being invited to the White House (under the Obama administration) for her work as a Queer Leader. So needless to say, she likes to think of those days when she had her gin and tonic at the White House, and is humbled to have met President Obama and Vice-President Biden. She plans to continue to support this and other causes through the business.
