On Thursday night at a big Beijing cinema complex, and we met up with Lin, Ji and Huang; 3 university students who live down the road from one of Beijing's many Haagen Dazs cafes.
Haagen Dazs outlets seem to be popping up at every upscale mall and popular shopping corner in China's cities. Add to that the proliferation of Dairy Queens, and smaller ice cream chains such as Sprinkles... it's obvious the Chinese love their ice cream.
But it's much more than ice cream itself that's creating the buzz - these ice cream cafes offer Chinese people a unique experience, following in the successful footsteps of McDonalds and Starbucks.
Lin thinks Haagen Dazs is the perfect place for a beautiful date, she loves it when her boyfriend brings her here (and looking around we notice the room is filled with happy couples.)
"The music, the colors, the menu, the ice creams... it makes me feel very good, like wearing beautiful clothes. Like a luxury."
And it's not just (relatively expensive) Haagen Dazs that offers an experience; Ji takes his girlfriend to Dairy Queen - it suits his student budget;
"When we need some desert, some treat or indulgence we get a Blizzard at DQ. And now, whenever I see the DQ sign, it makes me want that again." (Funny how ice cream needs a little prompting.)
As we watched people linger over the menu, chat to their friends, flirt with their dates and indulge their senses with their choices, it became clear; ice cream is not a product, it's an experience.
Truth: Ice cream is more than a magical mix of ingredients, it is a little luxury experience that can suit almost any taste and budget.
Opportunity: Be a matchmaker.
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