Kaveh ‘Kev’ Arfai is keeping a close watch on a machine churning out a bright orange frozen treat. It’s flavoured with fresh pomegranates, a fruit favoured by Iranians, especially for traditional Yalda celebrations.
“Yalda is actually one of the main celebrations that we have in Persian culture,” Mr Arfai says.
In Iran, families traditionally gather to mark Yalda around December 21, the longest night of the year in the northern hemisphere.
“It’s the winter solstice, and people don’t want to be lonely. So families sit down together until the sun comes up.
“And Persian families use pomegranate as a symbolic fruit, especially at this time.”
Fresh pomegranates ready to flavour gelato. Source: SBS / Sandra Fulloon
Mr Arfai migrated to Australia from his home in the Iranian capital Tehran in 2008, and says his homeland has a long history with this frozen iced treat.
“Italian gelato is an Italian product. However, in Iran for many, many years we had a different type of gelato, which is made with saffron, pistachio and cream.”
Customer Sara Naghizadeh, who also migrated from Iran, says as a child pistachio nuts featured at many family celebrations.
Customer Sara Naghizadeh trying pistachio gelato. Source: SBS / Sandra Fulloon
“Having pistachio right now in gelato really takes me back to the days where in Iran we used to have pistachios for every occasion, every tradition and every celebration,” she says.
“Mum even used to pack me pistcahios in my lunch box.”
Pistachio is among the top flavours favoured by customers from Iran, says Mr Arfai who trained as a software engineer in Tehran.
After arriving in Sydney, he initially started an e-commerce business selling wrist watches, and later branched out with a colleague into this gelato venture called C9, short for Cloud Nine.
C9 now caters to a diverse range of tastes – there are even pup pops for dogs – and its annual output is steadily climbing.
“Each year, we sell around 200,000 litres of gelato, which is quite a lot. We do not make purely Italian-style gelato. And we are not just a dessert or ice cream bar. We mix all the cultures.”
It’s a winning recipe for success that has led to rapid expansion – despite the challenging economic conditions.
“The past 12 months we were ready to expand the business, and we opened 14 shops in 12 months. Now, in total we have 23 shops across Australia,” he says.
Kaveh Arfai in a C9 shop in Sydney. Source: SBS / Sandra Fulloon
“We are in Melbourne and regional Victoria, Sydney, and we have more planned for Queensland. Obviously we would like to expand right across Australia, so let’s see maybe also Perth!”
So far, Mr Arfai says the vast majority of C9 franchises are owned by migrants.
“At the moment, we have 80 per cent Persian franchisees. But we don’t want to make it exclusively for Persian people. We are open to all other cultures, and we like to have a diverse group.”
Having conquered the multicultural tastes of Australia, Mr Arfai now has his sights set on distant horizons.
“In our five-year plan, we hope to expand to New Zealand, East Asia, the Middle East and the USA.”
Persians have enjoyed their own style of gelato for more than 100 years. Source: Supplied / Kaveh Arfai
Small Business and Family Enterprise Ombudsman Bruce Billson congratulates Mr Arfai for his entrepreneurship.
“Right across the business community in Australia, ventures like this blend experience, cultures and cuisine from various nations,” he says.
“And by adapting traditions, entrepreneurs can appeal to more customers here, and often find new markets right around the world.”
For Mr Arfai, sharing his frozen creations with international markets fulfils a cherished dream.
“We wanted to make something Australian to export it to other countries as an Australian culture, which is a multiculture.
“We have flavours for Asian communities, for Middle Eastern communities, so selling worldwide is the vision we have.”
