International Ice Cream giant Cold Stone Creamery announced that it will be expanding into Sri Lanka and India over the next 5 years.

“Over the next five years, 40 locations in India and 5 locations in Sri Lanka are in the pipeline,” an official statement said. Cold Stone Creamery ice cream is unique in that each is hand-crafted at the back of a store—one flavour at a time—in small batches, to ensure quality.

The franchise will be managed by Tablez Food Company; an India-based subsidiary of the Abu Dhabi-based diversified conglomerate Lulu Group International LLC.

“Over the next five years, Tablez Food Company plans to invest around US$11-13 million in the Cold Stone Creamery business across India and Sri Lanka. We plan to open the first Cold Stone Creamery at Lulu Mall in Kochi in November this year, followed by a few stores in Bangalore and subsequently other cities in India and Sri Lanka over the coming years,” Tablez Food Company Chairperson Shafeena Yussuf Ali said.

Headquartered in Arizona, USA, Cold Stone Creamery operates around 1,500 locations in over 25 countries. It is a subsidiary of the Kahala Brands, which is one of the fastest going franchise companies in the world with a portfolio of 16 quick-service companies.