For Frozen Fun Founder Vasuki Punj, Staying Small Is The Real Expansion Plan

For over a decade, Vasuki Punj built a career in law, moving through human rights, policy, international arbitration and even co-founding a legal-tech platform. It was a perfect life on paper, but not really enough for her. “It was intellectually rewarding,” reminisces the founder of Frozen Fun, “but somewhere along the way I realised I wanted to build something tangible, something personal.” The impulse was not born of dissatisfaction, but of a growing desire to create a product that people could experience together, rather than argue over.

The answer to her search came in 2020 during a trip to Goa, when she tasted a gelato that altered her sense of what frozen dessert in India could be. “It was clean, intentional and deeply flavour-forward,” she recalls. “More importantly, it made something click.” In that single scoop, she saw both a benchmark and a gap. In a country where there is no dearth of ice cream chains and boutique dessert brands, she realised that frozen desserts could be so much more. She was convinced. "Once people taste gelato made the right way, they'll immediately feel the difference in texture, flavour clarity, and lightness."

Punj resists the suggestion that gelato is inherently niche in India. “I never saw gelato as niche. I saw it as misunderstood,” she says, pointing out that Indian consumers possess complex palates and a strong cultural relationship with desserts as a whole. After all, aren't desserts a constant in almost every cuisine across the board? The ambition, therefore, was not to introduce novelty but to raise standards.

To that end, the process behind creating that perfect scoop of gelato is non-negotiable. “Gelato is unforgiving. If you compromise on stabilisation, temperature control or raw materials, the product tells on you immediately,” she says. Even if disciplined sourcing and quality production complicate logistics or inflated costs, Punj was not ready to compromise. The taste was everything; if the product tastes good, the brand could build up on it and grow later, too. “Growth that comes from dilution is not growth I am interested in," she declares.

That conviction paid off. In just a few years since its inception, Frozen Fun has expanded into a multi-city presence with eighteen outlets across Delhi NCR, Mumbai, Pune and Jaipur. From kiosks to intimate gelaterias and full café formats, the brand has translated its original commitment to authentic Italian gelato into experiences that honour the craft in the most heartfelt ways possible.

Punj's references are not global conglomerates but small Italian gelaterias where restraint defines excellence. She cites places like Gelateria La Carraia and Gelateria Della Pasera, establishments where menus remain short and flavours rotate with the seasons, and where, as she puts it, “pistachio tastes like pistachio and chocolate tastes like chocolate.” What she admires is balance over theatrics. “We are trying to recreate that same feeling of everyday indulgence, not performance," she adds.

Despite leading the business, Punj remains closely involved in flavour development. Three Italian chefs with over

80 years of combined expertise oversee the technical process, but she tastes every iteration before launch. "We usually develop two to three initial versions, then go through eight to ten tasting trials to fine-tune texture, sweetness and balance,” she explains. “My role is to protect the vision. The chef’s role is to protect the flavour.” For her, tasting is not oversight but connection, a way to ensure that expanding the brand does not distance her from the product’s core.

But that's not to say that Frozen Fun does not experiment. One of the brand’s more surprising successes has been Banarasi paan, a flavour that could easily have tipped into gimmick territory. “On paper, it sounds risky,” she admits. “It is intense, aromatic and deeply cultural.” Translating that profile into gelato required immense control of the flavour. “We focused on balance, freshness and texture rather than theatrics,” she says, adding how customers responded to familiarity handled with care. The lesson reinforced her belief that Indian flavours can thrive within Italian technique when treated with respect.

As Frozen Fun grows across formats and geographies, the greater risk lies not in competition but in losing character. Punj addresses this with systems and vigilance. Limited menus, controlled expansion, rigorous training and surprise store visits are part of her routine. “I do place regular online orders myself,” she says, acknowledging that scale introduces the possibility of complacency. “The moment things become automated or careless, the soul of the brand starts slipping. Scale should never overpower craft. It should support it.”

For someone trained in law, her language often circles back to discipline, standards and accountability. Yet what ultimately drives her is the sensory, not the theoretical. A decade of building arguments has given way to building flavour. In choosing gelato over litigation, Punj did not abandon rigour; she redirected it, applying the same analytical intensity to sweetness that brings people together.