The Maldives immediately evokes stunning white-sand beaches and luxury holiday resorts. However, a Maldivian start-up also intends to put the country on the global culinary map with innovative artisanal gelatos that links taste and culture. Beyond its unique flavors, ICETO offers tourists a new way to experience the Maldives and its lifestyle.
Aishath Ibrahim, known as Cidee, always had a gift with food. She started by posting pictures of her dishes and recipes on her Instagram account, Cidee’s Kitchen. As her following grew, she began baking cakes for restaurants and for personalized events. The success was immediate.
In 2017, Cidee registered Cidee’s Kitchen with her husband, Ahmed Eehab, and Ahmed Shaffaq. In 2018, they opened a small restaurant in Male called Blood Orange. This is where the company’s first gelato was created, made with screw pine fruit, a local, exotic, wild-grown fruit with a unique flavor reminiscent of pandan. The gelato-making process relied on manual churning and freezing, and the output was limited to one kilo.
The flavor and texture of the tasty gelato met instant popularity at the restaurant among local and foreign guests alike, encouraging Cidee and her partners to build on that enthusiastic response, commercialize their gelato in supermarkets, and consider scaling up production.
From Bondi Ice Cream to Maldivian Sweet Flavored Gelatos
During COVID-19, Cidee began experimenting with more local flavors and desserts for new gelato variations. In 2021, with five flavors finalized, Cidee’s Kitchen registered ICETO, a widely used Maldivian form of the name “Aishath”.
However, they adopted a prudent stance and decided to launch only one flavor “because we always had this belief that when you are scaling, you will make a lot of mistakes,” Ahmed said, citing, for example, logistical issues that “people always underestimate.”
The team started attending gelato-making courses, travelling to London, Dubai, and Italy, applying their new knowledge to ICETO. Cidee handled the creative side, and Shaffaq, an aircraft engineer, worked on the gelato formulas. “I believe it is a science,” explained Ahmed, “you have to really balance the recipes.”
The first flavor ICETO launched was Coconut & Bondi (Bondi is a local candy made of coconut). The second flavor was Boakuri Falho (a local dessert made from papaya).
The company now has six flavors on supermarket shelves: Screwpine, with sea almonds and meringue; Coconut and homemade Bondi, which is a Maldivian coconut candy; Boakuri Falho, with candied papaya; Rocky Road, with chocolate, caramel, and fried banana chips; Rose, with crunchy toasted pistachio; and Dhonkeyo Kaju, with banana fritters and caramelized peanuts.
Cidee’s fame on Instagram contributed to the large promotion of ICETO. “When she introduces something, her fanbase expects the products to be good,” noted Ahmed.
Ciede’s Kitchen recently opened a showroom in Hulhuamale with over 30 flavors that the company rotates. ICETO gelatos can be found in large supermarkets in the Male area, on islands with many guest houses, as well as in some shops and resorts.
Low Sugar Gelatos made from Locally Sourced Maldivian Fruits
ICETO praises itself for uncompromising quality delivered by rigorous manufacturing processes and stringent ingredient sourcing.
For example, Ahmed explained, ICETO provides gelatos with a very low overrun —the amount of air whipped into the gelato during the churning process. He added that ICETO gelatos have a dense, smooth texture, a result of the company’s artisanal process.
The company travels to exhibitions and food fairs to try to find the best sources for its ingredients. In the Maldives, as a small country, most ingredients have to be imported. When local fruits are used, they are handpicked from the market and checked for perfect ripeness. “Each stage of ripeness gives a different taste,” and it will affect the sugar level, Ahmed said.
Gelatos are entirely made in Cidee’s Kitchen’s production lines, in small batches to preserve quality, consistency, and freshness. Every stage in a long supply chain can compromise the quality of frozen products, noted Ahmed, adding that imported products go through multiple handling points, and each exposure to non-ideal temperatures gradually affects their texture and stability. Short supply chains “give an edge to any local manufacturer in any country,” he said.
Another competitive advantage, according to Ahmed, is the modest amount of sugar contained in ICETO’s range. “There is a big market, I would say, that prefers desserts that are not too sweet.”
Ahmed, who has a background in hospitality and human resources management, praises Cidee’s genuine talent at pairing food and textures and “her ability to see and imagine even before mixing the flavors or textures.” “She will tell me this is how it will taste and feel, and it really works.”
Experiencing Maldives’ Food Culture through ICETO Gelatos
The main market for ICETO is tourists visiting the Maldives. “We always believed that if any product has an attachment to a story, it adds value to the product,” “people like experiencing different cultures,” and the company wanted to introduce the Maldivian food experience through something everyone loves.
Stories start with the taste and unfold through the gelato cups, which are designed to convey the Maldives' lifestyle and culture. For example, Ahmed said, the image on the Boakuri Falho flavor shows a girl taking a papaya from the tree. That scene refers to a song about a girl named Aisha picking papayas from a tree.
The company is preparing to extend its reach beyond the current market and explore opportunities abroad.
However, going from a small to an international market requires preparation. The company is exploring options, scaling up strategies, and analyzing the need for different types of machinery, recipe adjustments, and the introduction of local flavors.
The company is also planning to introduce another product line linked to Maldivian culinary culture in 2026.
The ICETO Brand and Secret Gelato Recipes
The company is keenly aware of the importance of solid branding. The logo and each environmentally friendly packaging have been carefully designed to feature a woman in traditional attire and nature, conveying a feeling of elegance and carrying a unique story. “I tell my partners that my job is to make sure someone gets curious and takes the cup from the freezer; your job is to ensure this person comes and buys it again,” Ahmed said.
Cidee’s Kitchen was a beneficiary of branding mentorship sessions recently delivered by a WIPO-commissioned expert. WIPO experts have been engaging with the Ministry of Economic Development and Trade (MEDT) to update the legislative and policy framework and implement recommendations to develop the creative economy.
As a result, the copyright law has been revised, and a new trademark bill has been submitted to Parliament. WIPO is helping businesses to recognize and revise their trademarks so that they can register them once the law is in force.
The company is eager to register its trademark and logo in the Maldives and its target export markets. It uses trade secrets for its recipes.
