Molly Ally – a Plant-Based Ice Cream Success from Passion and Pain Points  

The CU Innovation Hub has supported Chulalongkorn University alumni behind “Molly Ally,” a plant-based ice cream brand, by providing technical knowledge and innovation support. With this assistance, the team refined their formula to achieve a smoother texture, prevent ice crystallization, and extend shelf life naturally—creating an ice cream that’s both delicious and healthy for consumers. 

“When Problems and Gaps Become Opportunities,” a team of three business students, Rati Bowornmongkolsak, an alumnus from the Department of Statistics, Faculty of Commerce and Accountancy, Chulalongkorn University; Chotima Meemungtham; and Kanchanit Bupphachuen, highlighted the problem of cow’s milk allergies among Asians as an opportunity to develop plant-based ice cream, a market with few competitors. 

The three rigorously studied and developed their product and business plan. Not only were they graduates with a Master’s Degree in Business in 2021, but they also founded Molly Ally Co., Ltd. to create the healthy ice cream brand, Molly Ally, which currently sells approximately 700 cups per day! 

“Molly Ally means a molecule of happiness that can be shared with everyone. It’s an ice cream that brings short-term happiness and long-term health benefits,” said Rati, discussing the value Molly Ally offers to consumers. 

The brand has grown alongside the health consciousness trend. Most recently, Molly Ally ice cream won first runner-up in the Central Region Best Innovation category for the 2025 Youth Startup Project at the “TED Youth Startup Championship 2025.” The company also received 1,500,000 baht in prize money from the Technology and Innovation Entrepreneurship Development Fund (TED Fund) under the Ministry of Higher Education, Science, Research and Innovation. 

Rati explained that Molly Ally’s strength lies in its smooth texture, free from ice crystals. and can be stored for a long time without the need for preservatives. The Molly Ally team received advice on formula adjustment and product development using the Emulsify Integrated System process by a team from the Entrepreneur Development Network, Chulalongkorn University Innovation Hub (CU Innovation Hub). 

The Business Began with Passion 

Although it began as a master’s degree project assigned by a professor, the Molly Ally team worked diligently and passionately. Rati explained the concept behind the plant-based ice cream: “From market research, we found that over 70% of people in Asia are allergic to cow’s milk, whether they know it or not. The plant-based or healthy ice cream market still lacks dairy-free ice cream, if any.  Plant-based ice cream accounts for only about 0.1%. So, we looked at the American market. There are a fair number of people with dairy allergies, but not as many as in Asia, accounting for 30% of the population.  Americans are already well-informed about dairy allergies. Non-dairy ice cream is already available in Europe and the US. We thus started focusing on the Asian market, as it is a large market with no competitors.” 

The market opportunity was high, but we had zero experience making ice cream. 

“The three of us had never made ice cream before. We started by studying recipes and combining them. Initially, we tried and failed, and the texture was not good. We kept making adjustments. During our master’s degree project, we stayed up until 3 or 4 a.m. every day to make ice cream for everyone to try. Since it was a healthy ice cream, we wanted to make it taste good, too. Before presenting our work, we wanted to make it taste good.” I brought the ice cream for everyone to try to prove that the ice cream I was about to make was focused on its delicious taste, not just the health aspect.” 

Rati explained that normally, the key ingredients in ice cream are cow’s milk and whipped cream. However, the plant-based ice cream formulated by the Molly Ally team doesn’t use cow’s milk at all but instead uses natural ingredients like oat milk, almond milk, and soy milk. The whipped cream is made from coconut oil and soy. 

The three students’ master’s project entered the New Venture Championship in Thailand before being selected to compete in Oregon, USA. At that time, teams from 75 countries competed. Team Molly Ally won the 2021 New Venture Championship and received prize money, which the three students used to invest in their business.  

Help from CU Innovation Hub for Product Development  

The Molly Ally team came up with a plant-based ice cream recipe that was both healthy and tasty. However, it had some pain points: a rough texture, ice crystals, and a poor shelf life. Rati and her fellow brand founders sought advice from the CU Innovation Hub, a project aiming at promoting innovations that benefit society. 

“We had a professor from the CU Innovation Hub to help guide us through product development. We explained how to make ice cream and the problems we encountered, what worked well, what didn’t, and how to solve them. The professor then suggested the Emulsify Integrated System and advised us to research the market to see if anyone else was using this technology. We followed that advice and found no one was, so we used this process to produce our ice cream.” 

The Emulsify Integrated System controls pressure, temperature, and time in the homogenization and pasteurization processes, resulting in a smooth ice cream texture with no ice crystals. This extends the shelf life of the ice cream for 12-15 months without the use of preservatives. 

In addition to the manufacturing process, the CU Innovation Hub also provided advice on increasing efficiency and production capacity. 

“Previously, our ice cream was produced manually, yielding only 700 cups per day and prone to human error. Now, Molly Ally Ice Cream has evolved to an automated system (Automated Emulsify System), which can increase production capacity fivefold, reduce the risk of contamination, and ensure precise quality control.” Ready to expand production capacity and support OEM and export.” 

Marketing Communications: Emphasizing Health and Delicious Taste 

Good products require excellent marketing communications. Rati reveals the “path to success” in brand building: “Presenting your work, winning awards at various events, and setting up shop at events are channels through which you can gain brand recognition.” She also cites the example of the media attention and interviews with the Molly Ally team. “During Shark Tank Season 3, we presented our business plan to secure funding. The show featured our brand on social media. At the time, we had a shop at the Queen Sirikit National Convention Center, and customers lined up outside to buy our product because they’d heard about it from Shark Tank.” 

However, the “healthy ice cream” concept still presents a significant challenge: it should taste delicious. 

“Many people wonder if healthy ice cream tastes good. This is something that we must overcome. We must constantly communicate to our customers that our ice cream is not only healthy but also just as delicious as regular ice cream. We try to organize events and parties to encourage people to try it and come back for more.” 

B2C and B2B Sales Strategy 

Molly Ally’s sales strategy is divided into 80% B2C (Business-to-Customer) and 20% B2B (Business-to-Business). 

For B2C sales, Molly Ally has branches at The Circle, EmQuartier, Park Silom, and Rama IX Hospital. They offer a wide variety of ice cream flavors, including Caramel Cookie Milk Shake (153 calories), Lemon Pie (160 calories), and Madagascar Vanilla Macadamia (160 calories), all priced at 89 baht per cup. 

For B2B sales, the company sells to health food restaurants. We also have collaboration projects with other health food brands. 

“If any health food restaurant wants to have their own ice cream flavor, we can offer customization. This is a collaboration with our brand, and we will also help promote it on social media. Our brand is already well-known for its healthy ice cream, and restaurants want to reach a health-conscious customer base. “We want the Molly Ally brand to be a showcase for our shop’s health-conscious offerings.” 

Rati tells us that these kinds of collaboration projects will be introduced every month. “So we’ve been stocking up on ice cream flavors. We’ve already got around 40, but they rotate. We don’t sell every flavor all the time.” 

 A Startup with a Heart 

For Rati, owning her own business has been a dream since childhood, as both her family and those around her are involved in businesses. “Since middle and high school, I have helped my family sell things. When I was a student at Chula, I applied to Chulalongkorn University’s simulation company and learned different perspectives from business owners. This made me determined that one day I would have my own business.” 

The other two co-founders shared the same dream. Rati discussed her startup approach: “When I was pursuing my master’s degree and starting my own business, we started by creating a business plan, identifying pain points, target customers, and business strategies. For those interested in a startup, I recommend studying the business plan first. We had already thought it through, and we revised it several times until we had a successful business. This way, we wouldn’t have to stumble and struggle when we started the actual business itself.” 

The founders of Molly Ally divided the responsibilities of brand management according to their expertise. Rati handles finances, storefront operations, and sales. Kanchanit handled marketing and branding, while Chotima takes care of product development and office operations. 

“Starting a food startup is tricky, especially when it comes to healthy food. Many people have severe allergies. The challenge is training our staff to understand nutrition. If we give out wrong information, it can impact the health of our customers.” 

Finally, the Molly Ally founders say, “We truly put our heart into making ice cream, using all-natural ingredients and no preservatives. We want to create a product for those we love, and want to share this goodness with others.” 

Molly Ally’s healthy plant-based ice cream not only brings joy to consumers but also brings joy to the brand owners. 

“When we feel discouraged, just visiting our branch or office gives us a much-needed boost. We talk to our customers at the store about the importance of our ice cream. Some of them have been with us since the beginning, before all the awards, buying our products since our very first three flavors, and following us as we expand our branches. Talking with them gives us the strength to continue the brand.” Rati concluded. 

• Facebook
• Twitter
• Line