How 2 Friends Quit Their Jobs and Pursued Their Dreams of Purple Ice Cream That Gets Thousands of Likes on Instagram

The founders of Soft Swerve in New York City discuss the creation of their signature product and how they keep customers coming back for more.

learn more about Stephen J. Bronner

By Stephen J. Bronner

Soft Swerve

Business inspiration struck best friends Jason Liu and Michael Tsang of New York after enjoying the Filipino desert of halo-halo, a mix of shaved ice, evaporated milk and ingredients like sweet beans, coconut, sago, gulaman, tubers including purple yam and fruits. But Liu and Tsang thought they could do it better.

So in 2016 they opened Soft Swerve, a soft serve ice cream shop in New York City's Chinatown. The shop primarily features four flavors: coconut, green tea, black sesame and its signature purple yam ice cream, which has brought attention from media and visitors clamoring to get this unique and colorful dessert in their Instagram feeds. The treat is not just an amazing visual, however, it's a culinary sensation that has attracted lines that stretched down the block and customers as far as Europe.

Related: How This Entrepreneur Found Her Sweet Spot and Scooped Up $30 Million in Sales Last Year

Watch the video below to learn more about the origins of Soft Swerve, what their newest flavor is and how they keep their customers coming back after their first "wow" moment.

Stephen J. Bronner

Entrepreneur Staff

News Director

Stephen J. Bronner writes mostly about packaged foods. His weekly column is The Digest. He is very much on top of his email.

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