Anuja Kabra is the COO and Co-Founder of Skippi Icepops –India’s 01st ice pops brand that ensures 100% Natural Flavours, Natural Colours, Natural Preservatives, and Natural Sweeteners.
Anuja completed her school and college in Hyderabad, following which she relocated to Australia with her husband Ravi Kabra. While living in Australia, Anuja worked with multinational food brands handling production, NPD’s, compliance, and innovative manufacturing technologies.
While living in Australia, both, Anuja and Ravi enjoyed having local ice pops. When a relative who had come to Australia to visit, packed a few ice pops in her bag while returning, they were told there are no established ice pops brands in India. This is when the duo started their primary and secondary research. India being a hot and humid country, realised the need for an established Ice Pop brand to take over the market and jumped right in.
Anuja along with her husband, Ravi, founded India’s first Ice Popsicle Brand “Skippi Ice Pops”. The ice pops are 100% naturally flavoured containing natural colours, preservations and sweetness. “We already had ice popsicles in mind when we decided to leap into our respective careers”, Anuja says. After rigorous research, they found that parents need a trustworthy brand, considering ice popsicles are categorized into treats. The parents of two children decided to launch Skippi without any artificial flavours or preservatives in March 2020.
Her appearance on Shark Tank India with a dream of presenting her brand Skippi on the T-Shirts of the Indian cricket team had created a buzz across social media.
The couple invested Rs. 65 Lakhs in starting the production and distribution. However, by the end of the month, India went under lockdown with the advent of COVID-19. The company had lost lakhs in rentals, salaries, and other expenses. The production was shut for a year they were convinced that the market opportunities would open up once the lockdown was lifted. The wait paid off when they were finally able to launch the popsicles in early 2021. The first batch was sold out within three weeks. The couple targeted both traditional markets and e-commerce platforms. In 2021, they participated in the reality show ‘Shark Tank India’. In their pitch, they emphasized on all colours and flavours used are fruit and vegetable extracts. The 1st Ice Popsicle brand received funding of a whopping 10 million INR for 15% equity. Skippi Ice Pops created history becoming the 01st brand on Shark Tank India to receive an All Shark Deal.
Skippi Ice Pops recently announced the launch of Solo and Master Franchisee models with the launch of Skippi EV Bikes mounted with a freezer, for interested investors to be able to sell Skippi Ice Pops on the go at public spaces throughout the day.
Having worked in the F&B sector for over 14 years, her experience and vast knowledge helped her play a pivotal role in building Skippi from scratch. A mother of two, she has perfected the art of work-life balance. Her years of experience have helped raise a team of manufacturing experts and now Skippi is heading towards increasing its portfolio and becoming a fast-growing brand of fun, nostalgia, and excitement.
