We can all agree that when it comes to ice cream, we are all kids at heart. ‘eyescream & friends’ has added even more fun to the game.  

Headquartered in the city of dreams, Barcelona, ‘eyescream & friends’ is the most unique ice cream shop of all times, and to our fortune this fun new experience is now available in Egypt. If you want to treat yourself, go pay them a visit at their first branch on Maadi’s road 9, a great way to welcome the summer season. 

Here is ‘eyescream & friends’ answers to Identity’s questionnaire, all quoted by Mr Federico Mendoza Valladares, Co-Owner of Eyescream & Friends.

1V7A1031

1. Though ‘eyescream & friends’ is an incredible super delicious experience, it’s still a young iconic brand. Don’t you think it’s a risky gamble and a challenge to start it here in Egypt, especially with many well-established brands in the market?

What fun is life without a challenge? –Since ‘eyescream and friends’ started, they have been pushing the envelope on everything, from design, architecture and look, all the way to creating a brand new product and experience from scratch. Once clients visit our store for the first time, they are hooked. You can have a regular ice cream or a gelato anywhere, but we sell much more than a product. We sell a unique experience!
‘eyescream and friends’ is currently executing an ambitious growth plan and we’re really excited to be a part of it; such a unique experience with such a great taste is sure to be a hit in Egypt!

1V7A1021
2. Do you intend to open more branches? If yes, when?
‘eyescream and friends’ is currently expanding in the GCC and Asia. By year’s end, there will be branches in at least 5 countries.
Our new Maadi location is a great place to start in Egypt. We actually opened quite quickly as the schedule called for the Cairo branch to be the fourth opening, but this location was too good to pass up. We were very excited to get started, so we pressed the accelerator and opened! –If all goes well, we may consider an additional location by the beach. This idea is currently under study as there are many good options available.

3. How many flavors do you offer? What are they?
Currently, we offer 7 flavors: Cheesecake, Vanilla, Chocolate, Strawberry, Mango, Yoghurt and our awesome Wildberry Yoghurt. Be on the lookout for our weekly specials; Peanut Butter and Oreo Yoghurt are fan favorites.

4. Why does each flavor have its own colorful avatar?
Each flavor has its own character and backstory; a lot more will be coming soon in that regard. My particular favorite story is that of Sad Tom (our yoghurt flavor). He’s sad as everyone picks on him for being healthy and self conscious; Wild Willy is angry at the others for picking on Tom, hence his super angry eyes.

1V7A0866

5. What’s the concept behind the serving tray?

Joad Lopez and Federico Mendoza, ‘eyescream & friends’ co-founders, agreed with the design team from the beginning that to enhance the beautiful look of the shaved gelato technique while adding toppings, certain elements needed to be incorporated. The packaging had to be modern and sleek, as the company is very design oriented. It needed to be practical for the customer to carry around the streets of Barcelona while eating. It also needed to carry toppings separately from the ‘eyescream’ in order to keep the beautifully designed shaved gelato intact until the customer decided to eat the masterpiece and mix it with toppings.
Finally, the packaging had to be sustainable. All materials had to be recyclable or bio-degradable, hence the wooden spoon in the packaging. However, plastic spoons are always available!
6. Are there any plans to add Egyptianized characters to ‘eyescream & friends’ set? Or do you prefer to stick with the original ones for the time being?
There will be a local flavor+character soon; we’ll hold the identity and flavor as a secret for now. We are very excited; we are sure our fans are going to love it! –We hope to finalize development of the flavor in the coming weeks. We will announce it via our social media accounts, so stay tuned!
7. What’s the meaning behind the brand’s name?
When the founders met with the creative designers who helped develop the concept, branding was one of the main issues that needed to be addressed. Coming up with a good concept is not enough unless you create a strong brand. Months of brainstorming went by when one of the lead designers came up with the idea of a social brand linked with the “ice cream with eyes” concept. From there, ‘eyescream & friends’ was born and the rest is history!
8. What makes ‘eyescream & friends’ different from any ordinary ice cream shop?
Everything at ‘eyescream & friends’ is unique; it’s a big part of its philosophy. From silly details like the brand being spelled in small letters (we even had to file a claim on Facebook as it wouldn’t allow it!), to a store that does not look like a regular ice cream/gelato parlour, to a pack designed from scratch to be a beautiful canvas for your unique and incredible ‘eyescream’, to a service staff trained to always be nice, relatable and kind in a very personalized way. We are not different; we are just unique!