There is a building that stands out among the forest of buildings in Yangjae whose modern exterior design and huge glass surrounding the entire first floor instantly catch people’s eyes. It is SPC2023, the head office of Baskin Robbins Korea.
Opening on the first floor was “Workshop by Baskin Robbins,” a space for experiment and creativity where ice cream products developed by BR are on display. Here, your dream ice cream ideas turn into reality. Let us find out what this special place has to offer.
Workshop by Baskin Robbins on the 1st floor of SPC2023
Workshop by Baskin Robbins (hereinafter “the Workshop”) represents the culmination of BB’s passion for and commitment to truly special ice cream. With around 100 seats on a 330㎡ area, the Workshop is where the experimental and innovative products of BR developed by its researchers as well as products showcasing its technological prowess become first available before they are sold at other BR stores. The Workshop is made up of three different spaces: Story Zone, Cake Zone, and Variety Zone. Let us tour each zone and discover a whole new world of ice cream you have never seen before.
A Tour Around the Workshop Guided by a Brand Storyteller
Learn about BR ice cream through a media wall.
As soon as you step into the Workshop, a large media wall catches your eye. You will be surprised by the sheer size of the media wall, which covers the entire wall. Your eyes will be entertained by simply looking at the colorful ice cream presented on the media wall.
If you are overwhelmed by the scale of the Workshop and you have no idea where to start, you can ask a doctor, a storyteller, for help. A storyteller is an ice cream docent program guide called “doctor.” These storytellers are always around at the Workshop. I was allowed to get a sneak preview of the Ice Cream Docent program scheduled to be released in the first half of the year. A doctor will answer any questions you may have about BR ice cream during your tour. Please join me on a tour of the Workshop with an ice cream docent!
Make sure you wear a wrist band before starting a tour.
Your tour begins once you put a visitor’s band around your wrist. Wearing a wrist band makes you feel excited as if you were at an amusement park. In a moment, you travel quickly back in time as the media wall takes you back to the beginning of Baskin Robbins.
The audience quickly gets absorbed in the story told by a doctor!
The doctor will throw you some quiz questions as she tells stories about BR and its ice cream. Members of the audience break ice as they keep raising their hands competitively to answer quiz questions.
The Story Zone: Everything from Classic Favorites to All the Experimental Ice Cream Flavors
Pralines ‘N Cream, BR’s best-selling ice cream flavor worldwide
Now that you have learned about the history of Baskin Robbins, it’s time to get a taste of BR ice cream. As the participants follow the doctor to the Story Zone, their faces start beaming, imagining how each new flavor will please their palate. There are 4 tables in the Story Zone, each offering 12 different flavors. The first flavor to taste is Pralines ‘N Cream, BR’s best-selling flavor worldwide. Your mouth will be instantly filled with the sweet and nutty flavor of caramel and nuts once you taste it. You will easily see why it is a best-seller worldwide.
Wasabi flavor, the most shocking flavor of all
There is a special ice cream flavor that you can taste only at the Workshop: wasabi. Even the color is so unique and special. According to BR’s R&D Center, the recipe uses real fresh wasabi. People are simply half-curious and half-worried about this very unusual ice cream flavor that they have never seen or tasted elsewhere. But the fear of the unknown flavor can’t stop them from trying it. Surprisingly, the unlikely mix of spicy wasabi and sweet ice cream was quite popular.
Interviews with Jin-gyeong Woo and Hyeon-ji Lee, BR researchers who jointly developed the wasabi flavor
There is a lot more you can learn and taste at the Workshop, including BR flavors available only in the United States, flavors sold only at 100 Flavor Stores, and flavors that BR has stopped selling.
It is warm and bright in the Workshop as the sunlight comes in through the glass wall.
There is something else you don’t want to miss out on—ice cream made by putting two of BR’s most popular flavors together. BR’s steady seller Green Tea and Earl Grey flavors come together in ‘Green Tea Earl Grey’ , and strawberry and tiramisu are mixed to create ‘Strawberry Mocha Tiramisu’. It tastes better and richer as two of the best flavors become one. These are limited editions available only at the Workshop.
There are 48 different flavors available for you to taste at the Story Zone. A doctor can recommend flavors, but you can also explore and find your personalized flavors that best suit your personal tastes and preferences.
Find out your personalized flavors, guided by a Doctor.
Brownie Jubilee, Wasabi, Strawberry Mocha Tiramisu, Green Tea Earl Grey
Most customers order the same flavors over and over either because they like them or they are afraid of trying new flavors. Still, they were all very happy to be able to try various different flavors at the Workshop that they would rarely try otherwise. They all seemed to agree with what the Doctor said: the more you know about the flavor, the better it tastes.
The Cake Zone: Transformation of Ice Cream beyond Imagination
Doctor Winter talks at the Cake Zone
Leaving behind the Story Zone that is full of interesting stories and flavors, people followed the Doctor to the Cake Zone. They paid close attention and stayed tuned to every single gesture that she made and every single word she said. One of the crowd said, “We are like children who are enchanted and led by the Pied Piper,” describing themselves so absorbed in the story told by the Doctor, and everybody laughed out loud and clapped their hands in agreement. Some of them repeatedly exclaimed, “How lovely!” The exclamation was triggered by Egg Cake, the Workshop’s signature cake. The cake looks so adorable and lovely, and there are other cakes designed in the shapes of different fruits and animals. These premium ice cream cakes made by professional chefs please your eyes and sweeten your heart by simply looking at them.
Dogok Mochi, ice cream mixed with glutinous mochi freshly made at the Workshop
The Variety Zone: create your own gelato with toppings of your choice
A gelato show performed live at the gelato station
A cup of gelato topped with cute, adorable cookie bit has been freshly made on the spot.
At the Variety Zone, you can see how gelato is made in a live performance taking place at the gelato live station. When the ice cream and toppings get mixed together fast on an iron plate, people take out their phone and start recording as they are amazed by the fascinating ice cream-making techniques. The gelato was a huge hit as the crowd got to watch their own gelato being made right before their eyes and choose their own toppings including biscuits, pretzels, and pistachio to get their own cup of gelato.
Doctors Alice and Winter led the tour.
By the time they finished the tour, 30 minutes had passed, but the crowd had no idea how the 30 minutes passed by. They all applauded Doctors Alice and Winter for being so passionate throughout the tour. In fact, the Doctors at the Workshop admitted being so worried if the visitors would find their stories interesting enough.
Fortunately, they said they were relieved to see the visitors excited and thanked them for truly enjoying the tour. “We are always here at the Workshop. So don’t forget to come and ask for us if you ever have any questions or want to try new flavors,” they added.
If you upload your photos with the hashtags #Baskin Robbins and #Workshop on social media, you can choose frames and print out photos.
A lucky draw event for up to 50 people on a first-come, first-served basis
The Workshop opening ceremony in photos
The opening ceremony for Workshop by Baskin Robbins on February 19, 2024
Workshop by Baskin Robbins was officially opened on February 19, 2024. The ceremony was attended by SPC Group Vice President Hee-soo Huh, Jay Park, a diplomat of the Commercial Section of the US Embassy in the Republic of Korea, Chairman & CEO James Kim of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea, Jeffrey Jones, chairman of the American Chamber of Commerce in Korea and chairman of Partners for the Future Foundation, CEO Se-ho Doh of BR Korea, and other BR employees among others.
Some of the key guests are looking at BR ice cream cakes at the opening ceremony.
At the opening ceremony, SPC Group Vice President Hee-soo Huh and the director for strategic coordination of BR Korea explained some of the BR products to Jeffrey Jones and James Kim.
‘Workshop by Baskin Robbins’ is full of interesting stories and various ice cream flavors to enjoy. It will serve as the center of BR’s experiment and innovation, and it will be the first place where BR’s innovative initiatives and flavors will become available to the public. The lucky draw event and other fun events will continue until March 3 to celebrate the opening of the Workshop. Please come and taste ice cream beyond your imagination at the Workshop.