As of December 3, 2009, [color=#FF0000]Baskin-Robbins[/color] is now distributed under a seem to be shared set-up with Dean & Deluca. (counter on D&D premises)
I do like Baskin-Robbins. I do not like that they are sold in a stinky - smelly B2 basement of Breeze.
But we won’t complain about that… just purchase (cue up…) and move on
They offer 31 tastes and they launched them all JUST before the upcoming winter… cool marketing strategy no ?
Let’s see if this is a trial , a treat or an upcoming failure
Baskin’ Robbins used to be in Taiwan about 17 years ago when we first came. They had the one scoop for 31 NT when there was a month with 31 days. Then they all closed. So they are coming back again!
Perhaps, like Dunkin’ Donuts was watching Mr. Donut, Baskin-Robbins has been watching Coldstone and believes there’s more of a market here.
We’ll see what happens in a few years. I know the Mr. Donut near Gongguan station has either closed or moved - and the queues have certainly disappeared everywhere else.
Is ice cream such a seasonal product in Europe and North America? I find it kind of odd here that in summer the supermarket freezers are full of ice cream, but in winter it almost all disappears to a small corner freezer.
No, people eat ice cream all year around in Europe (at least the parts I’ve been to/live in). I guess here you shouldn’t eat ice cream at all…
Coldstone is too sweet imho and too expensive on top of that, Baskin-Robbins is for kids imho, all artificial crap. Ben and Jerry’s does at least have some nicer stuff (but sadly not happening it seems). Häagen-Dazs has some ok stuff, but also some super sweet ones these days that aren’t really edible. Mövenpick is also way too expensive here. How come you can’t get decent quality affordable ice cream here like in the Philippines, I mean even in Boracay you can get a scoop of ice cream for like 30 peso and it’s great quality stuff. Oh well…
And yes, I’ve tried making my own, but as I don’t have an ice cream maker, it didn’t come out that great (bits of ice in it), so that’s not really an option…
It’s all overpriced or mediocre here, I completely agree. Baskin-Robbins is ‘okay’, inexpensive ice-cream for families with a bunch of kids. The kids get to walk into a dedicated shopfront, see this huge, colorful array of flavors and pick from them – that’s part of the appeal. If instead you package it and sell it at an inflated price in an overpriced deli like D&D, I can’t imagine it succeeding; only unusual gourmet ice cream would fit in such a retail outlet IMO.
If BR can come in and offer NT$35 scoops and economical take-home pints, quarts and gallons, add toys for the kids, and they launch in a traditional storefront in locations frequented by families (in the zoo, parkside, etc.), they may have something.
I especially like the ice cream by Tutti Frutti, which is available in a few stores and restaurants in the Taipei area.
I like it better than Häagen-Dazs, etc… It’s made locally by a Forumosan. And, IIRC, it tends to be cheaper than those foreign brands. It was a dark, sad day for me when they closed their Tianmu retail store for the winter, because the laoban often comes up with new and special flavors that he’d sell in the store (and for private events) but which aren’t offered in mass-production amounts for supermarkets, hotels, etc.
Wasn’t there a store on Zhongxiao E. Rd just east of Jianguo?[/quote]
Yes that is the one I remember the one on Zhong Xiao near Jian Guo. Also used to be one on Zhong Shan N. Rd not far from McKay hospital. That was circa 1993. Then about 1994 they closed up.
BR has some flavors I really like, so I suppose I’ll have to go check it out, see if the price is do-able. I don’t suppose they’ll be opening a Danshui branch anytime soon…
Been one in taichung for years now, in october they had a buy one get one free tub of ice cream, $440nt for 2 huge tubs of ice cream was a pretty good deal.