PETALING JAYA, March 17 — The first thing you notice about kefir ice cream is the tang — a gentle brightness that cuts through the creaminess of a familiar scoop.
For Ho Su Mei, co-founder of Cream & Culture, that tang has been part of everyday life for years.
At 29, she speaks about kefir with the quiet conviction of someone who grew up with it — not as a passing wellness fad but as a starting point, an ingredient that shapes how she thinks about flavour, texture and what dessert might become.
Her path into food was hardly conventional. A graduate of Universiti Kebangsaan Malaysia (UKM) with a degree in English Language Studies, Su Mei did not train in culinary school kitchens.
Instead, she learned through her family’s kefir business, MyKefirWorld, where years spent working with fermentation gradually turned curiosity into craft.
“Cream & Culture came about naturally from that environment. We’ve been making kefir and experimenting with it for years, trying to find creative ways to present it beyond just drinks. We even use it in food and skincare. Inevitably, this led to introducing kefir as a dessert, and that’s how I eventually found myself here.”
Turning kefir into ice cream might sound counterintuitive in a market more familiar with gelato, frozen yoghurt or soft serve.
For Su Mei, however, the idea was grounded in experience. Over nearly two decades running MyKefirWorld, she had seen how regular kefir consumption helped customers struggling with long-standing digestive issues.
“What really gave me confidence was seeing firsthand how customers have benefitted from kefir through my family’s business over the past 17 years since we started,” she says.
That conviction was reinforced by broader changes in consumer habits. Over the past decade, Malaysians have become increasingly aware of gut health, reflected in the growing popularity of fermented drinks such as kombucha.
When her family first started MyKefirWorld 17 years ago, kombucha was virtually absent from local store shelves. Today, it is widely available in grocers, supermarkets and convenience stores — a shift that signalled to Su Mei that consumers were becoming more open and curious about gut-friendly foods.
With that curiosity growing, she realised ice cream could be the most approachable introduction.
“In the early days, we had already experimented with a simple, small-batch version of kefir ice cream through MyKefirWorld, and the response was very encouraging. Ice cream became a very effective entry point because it felt familiar and unintimidating.”
Rather than asking customers to change their habits entirely, the idea was to lead with enjoyment first.
“Their reactions, especially repeat purchases and word-of-mouth, showed us that while kefir was niche, the interest was there once it was presented in an approachable way.”
Cream & Culture positions itself as Malaysia’s first kefir-based ice cream brand, though Su Mei is careful about how she frames that distinction.
“Our approach is very intentional. While we are the first brand in Malaysia to offer kefir-based ice cream, our goal is not to make a ‘healthy alternative’ that compromises on taste or texture. At the end of the day, it still has to be a good, solid scoop of ice cream.”
Kefir, she explains, is not simply a flavour note or marketing flourish. It forms the foundation of the product itself, shaping how the ice cream develops in both taste and texture.
By using “live” kefir grains, the base remains naturally probiotic-rich while still achieving the creaminess expected from ice cream.
The result sits somewhere between categories.
“Unlike traditional artisanal ice cream that focuses purely on richness, or frozen yogurt that leans heavily into tanginess, our ice cream sits somewhere in between. It is indulgent, but with depth.”
Among the more popular flavours are the Original — which showcases kefir’s natural tang most directly — and Blue Pea Sea Salt, where the floral hue of butterfly pea meets a gentle savoury finish that balances the creaminess.
On the spoon, the texture remains lush and creamy, with a faint tang that lingers just long enough to make the next bite feel refreshing rather than heavy.
Rather than masking kefir’s natural acidity, Cream & Culture develops flavours that complement it.
“It’s gentler on the gut than conventional ice cream, while still delivering that probiotic-rich goodness in every scoop.”
If the idea sounds simple, the execution proved far more demanding. Because kefir is a “live” fermented ingredient, it does not behave like a conventional ice cream base.
“Product development involved a lot of trial, error, and patience,” Su Mei says. “We had to carefully adjust temperature, ratios, and formulation to preserve the beneficial cultures while still achieving a smooth, creamy texture.”
Acidity presented another technical consideration. The team spent considerable time testing how sweetness, fat levels and flavour profiles interacted with kefir’s natural tang.
Over time, both technical testing and customer feedback helped them refine flavours that complemented the ingredient rather than overpowering it.
To help customers navigate this spectrum, Cream & Culture introduced a small but telling detail at the counter.
At the counter, customers can enjoy their scoop in a classic cone or as part of a dessert plate — most notably atop freshly made waffles that add warmth and crunch to the tangy creaminess.
Each flavour is labelled with a “Kefir Level”, indicating the intensity of tanginess — from Level 1 for a gentle hint to Level 3 for bolder expressions such as the Original flavour. The system offers transparency while allowing customers to explore different flavour profiles at their own pace.
“At the end of the day, our goal is simple: customers should walk away feeling like they’ve enjoyed a genuinely good scoop of ice cream.”
Operationally, however, the learning curve was steep.
“When it comes to kefir-based ice cream versus conventional ice cream, the biggest challenge is consistency.”
Because the base is fermented from scratch using live kefir grains, more variables come into play, from fermentation strength to how the ice cream sets and scoops.
“Ultimately, we improved by failing, learning, and repeating,” she says. “Instead of forcing kefir to behave like standard dairy, we learned to work with it.”
As Cream & Culture grows, Su Mei’s ambitions remain measured but clear.
“We hope to grow Cream & Culture into a household name by expanding to more retail locations. We’re definitely planning to introduce more complex and seasonal flavours and may even explore other types of desserts. Collaborations are also something we’re keeping our sights open to down the line.”
For Su Mei, culture is not merely branding. It is literal — living, fermenting, and quietly shaping every scoop.
In that sense, Cream & Culture is less about reinventing ice cream than about returning to its foundations, one tangy spoonful at a time.
Cream & Culture
22-1, Jalan PJU 5/10,
Dataran Sunway, PJ.
Open daily 12pm-10:30pm
Phone: 016-660 6399
