Get your hands on some homemade gelato in a pot, courtesy of “Pot Colombo”. Founded by siblings Shimraz Sahill, Amaan Sahill, and Shamara Sahill, the dessert idea was born of a mutual love of innovation and a shared sweet tooth between the siblings.
Speaking with Co-founder Shimraz, he commented that the three of them would often get ice cream and chose to mix and match it with various different ingredients just to see how they work together. With this curiosity in mind, the trio were intrigued by the idea of making their own desserts; considering their shared passion for flavouring, they thought it would be a good idea to bring down the powder and see what they can do from home.
The concept of homemade anything these days isn’t all that ground-breaking, as, particularly when it comes to food, the pandemic has seen an unprecedented rise in home bakers and makers of numerous edible things. However, Shimraz shared that despite the obviously saturated market, they did not feel deterred in the least, stating that, even amidst all the saturation, their idea stood a chance.
He said that they felt this was the perfect time to take their first step into the food industry. Despite them collectively not having any prior involvement in the industry whatsoever, it was reassuring that the one industry that was able to survive, and even thrive to an extent during this pandemic, has been food and beverage. He shared that despite the challenges, they chose to go ahead and give it a shot.
How did it taste? 
Because it has only been just over 10 days since Pot Colombo was launched, the siblings don’t yet have a measure of comparison for their product or how well it will be received. Which is where we come in, to judge somebody’s well-intentioned efforts and declare its adequacy; with no intention of dragging down a start-up with so much promise to improve, we have to say the product was slightly underwhelming – but there is so much potential and enough good things about it that we can definitely say it’s worth trying out.
Pot Colombo offers homemade gelato served in mini clay pots – an adorable concept. Shimraz noted that being eco-friendly was something that was important to them, hence the reusable clay pots and wooden spoons that accompany the dessert. As of now, they offer four flavours including Nutella, Oreo, Kit-Kat, and Kulfi. Each priced at Rs. 200, with the Nutella one being Rs. 250.
The incredibly reasonable pricing is one of the best parts about this product, as it really feels like it’s worth it, which is important when trying out an entirely new untested product. When you take the dessert itself, it is definitely worth the price you pay, but it has its flaws, and one major thing was that it is too sweet. Maybe this could be passed off as a matter of personal taste, as we don’t tend to favour extremely sweet desserts, but there’s yet another glaring concern – we had trouble differentiating between the Nutella and the Kit-Kat, because they really lacked any strong sense of these usually quite outstanding flavours. Sorry to say, they tasted like vanilla gelato with a very light flavouring of something chocolate.
What we loved, however, were the Oreo and Kulfi ones – the Oreo one especially was fantastic, the consistency was perfect and it looked and tasted great. Definitely recommend these two.
Because they are just starting out, we are inclined to give Pot Colombo the benefit of the doubt; perhaps it was just our luck that we were treated to a not-so-up-to-standard batch, which can happen with homemade products, and that’s okay. There is great potential here, and in the hopes of supporting budding new entrepreneurs, we would like to encourage anybody interested, with a love for gelato, to give Pot Colombo a chance.
Available for delivery (within Colombo) or pick up (Colombo 6). DM on Instagram for orders.
IG: @pot.colombo
