Naperville residents have a new sweet treat shop to look forward to this summer.
International ice cream brand Dumont Creamery & Cafe will open its first Illinois store in mid-July at the Block 59 dining and entertainment complex on Route 59.
“The ice cream flavors are not like the generic ice cream we find in all other stores,” said Sai Uppalapati, master franchise owner of Dumont stores in Wisconsin and Illinois. “We have a global palette. We curate ice cream flavors based on desserts that are popular in various countries.”
That includes everything from a mint basil sorbet to represent Italy, hokey pokey (vanilla ice cream with honeycomb toffee) to represent New Zealand and kheer (rice pudding) to represent India. Dumont’s most popular flavor, Lotus Biscoff, represents Belgium. Any of the ice cream flavors at Dumont can also be turned into a milkshake, Uppalapati said.
Brothers Vivek and Bhaskar Inampudi started Dumont in 1999 in Hyderabad, India. The chain has since expanded with over 50 stores in India. In the U.S., there are stores in Texas, California, South Carolina, Georgia, Arkansas and Ohio, and the brand is expanding to Europe, Australia, Canada and New Zealand, Uppalapati said.
As the first store in Illinois, Block 59’s Dumont will serve as the state’s flagship. Uppalapati said he is considering Aurora, Plainfield, Oak Park and Buffalo Grove for future locations.
Currently there are 15 Dumont stores in the U.S. and about 30 under construction. By year’s end, nearly 50 Dumont shops will be open across the country, he said.
“We are not trying hard to expand, but all the growth has been organic,” he said. “We’re not spinning our wheels and trying very hard to sell franchises and stuff. We’re just keeping it organic.”
When asked why he chose Naperville for the flagship Illinois location, Uppalapati cited the city’s reputation. For the past three years, he said, Naperville has been “rated the best suburb of the U.S.”
“It perfectly fits the demographics,” he said. “There are schools, there are kids, there are families, there are students, there’s all kinds of mix that’s suitable for a cafe experience.”
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On top of that, he noted that Naperville is a top dining destination in the Chicago area, which means it’s more likely the brand will be exposed to people from around the region.
“We try to make our interiors look more cozy and elegant so people would like to hang out and spend some time rather than just grabbing a cup of ice cream and leaving,” Uppalapati said. “We create an environment where people would like to sit there, do some work or chat with friends or host a corporate event.”
In addition to ice cream, they will also serve coffee and boba.
Dumont partners with coffee bean brand Karafa, which exports their beans to more than 100 countries and has factories in Vietnam, India and Switzerland, Uppalapati said.
“Karafa is also invested in Dumont. They have, I can’t disclose the percentage, but they have a percentage of share in Dumont global brand,” he said. “And so they give us their top grade beans … which are called double A grade beans, which no other big franchises have access to. So our coffee tastes really great and different compared to other coffee chains.”
Customers can sip on a black coffee or a latte while they eat their ice cream, or they can order an affogato, which is ice cream with an espresso shot poured over it.
As for boba, the chain offers everything from milk teas like classic black, taro and matcha to fruit teas, including pineapple, passionfruit and strawberry. All boba ingredients and toppings are imported from Taiwan, Uppalapati said.