Cooking is one of the hobbies in which a child discovers through how things are working together. Lama, the owner of the “Lama Sweet” brand, who is 11 years old, has been practicing her passion in making ice cream since she was about 4 years old, and she is now producing the first luxury gelato ice cream made in the Sultanate of Oman.
“As a child at the age of four, I was looking for anything in the kitchen that would lead to a similar result to the shape of the ice cream that I love. I used school paints to add a color to the ice cream, and I used strawberry soap to add a smell, I freeze it and serve it in the evening to my family,” Lama said.
Lama’s mother was observing her daughter’s passion and insistence, so she bought the right ingredients of milk, cocoa and others, as Lama added, ”So I started learning from YouTube how to make ice cream and then making small quantities for sale.”
Lama’s ambition was great, as she always wanted to produce in large quantities and have her own driver to deliver her products, but, “No one knew about me and I did not find a buyer other than family members and acquaintances. For people to know me more, I recordrd a video to introduce myself and my business. I called myself “The Little business lady, Lama shared.
The video reached out to people and luckily, to the Honorable Lady as well, who generously in a sweet gesture from her side bought all the quantity of ice cream that day. She, also, gifted me one of the high-tech ice cream machines and all the raw materials for making ice cream.
The Honorable lady to set up the work place for me in a safe environment. “the team fixed the electrical connections and put the machine in the right place, as it is large and needs a special place and special connections.”
Lama also had training in high-end production where, as she pointed out, “The team trained me extensively to professionally make premium gelato ice cream and gave me instructions on the materials to be used and I got facilities to provide it from France and Germany. From here the beginning was completely different.”
Lama, later on, worked on developing her workplace, which is based at home. “I provided two large refrigerators in addition to the previous one. I also bought four large automatic mixer machines; as I had previously relied on manual mixers, but with the large number of production it was necessary to provide some devices that facilitate the work,” Lama noted.
One of the happy moments in which Lama felt her success was while honoring her project as the best product made in the Sultanate of Oman at the Omani Women’s Day ceremony held last year by Alizz Islamic Bank in cooperation with ShangriLa Resort for Omani Women Entrepreneurs.
There are many ice cream shops in the Sultanate, but there is what makes “Lama Sweet” ice cream special. “I am making the first luxurious Omani gelato ice cream, as the ice cream goes through stages in the preparation of heating, mixing, condensing and freezing and not like the regular ice cream that uses ready-made powder mixed with water,” she explained.
“I have different flavors like dates with Nuts, Mango Passion, Raspberry, Strawberry, Coffee, Karak, Pineapple, Berry Passion, Oreo, Cocoa, Lotus, Red Velvet and Pistachio. Fruit ice cream is 100% with natural ingredients,” She added.
Lama, currently, works from home and promotes her work through her Instagram account @lama_sweet2011, and she has a delivery service in Muscat. Lama aspires, in the future, to continue serving her customers with love and pleasure through a store that carries her brand.
