How I built a $2.8 million/year ice cream company

Cnbc · May 13, 2026 · 84 words · By Tasia Jensen

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What to know about How I built a $2.8 million/year ice cream company

How I built a $2.8 million/year ice cream company Pooja Bavishi, 42, is the founder and CEO of Brooklyn, New York-based ice cream company Malai.

Claims checked 5

Techniques found 0

Topics 0

Coverage spectrum

Coverage gap: Low Left coverage

Left0%

Center75%

Right25%

4 sources compared across this story cluster. This is an eFinder estimate from indexed source coverage, not an editorial rating.

What happened

How I built a $2.8 million/year ice cream company Pooja Bavishi, 42, is the founder and CEO of Brooklyn, New York-based ice cream company Malai.

Why it matters

The company, which Bavishi founded in 2015, operates four brick-and-mortar locations across New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., plus a wholesale and e-commerce business.

Common ground

Malai distinguishes itself in a crowded market with flavors inspired by South Asia, and brought in $2.8 million in total sales in 2025, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.

Perspective signals

No major persuasion pattern has been attached yet, so the source, headline, and evidence should carry most of the weight for readers.

Follow-up questions

What concrete event or decision sits underneath the headline: How I built a $2.8 million/year ice cream company?
What evidence would most clearly confirm or weaken the claim that plus a wholesale and e-commerce business?
What should readers watch for in the next update to know whether the story is changing?

open_in_new Read the original article: https://www.cnbc.com/video/2026/05/13/malai-pooja-bavishi-how-i-built-ice-cream-…

fact_checkClaims Checked

eFinder analyzed this article and checked 5 claims against available evidence, cross-references, web search, and Wikipedia. Here is what the fact-checking layer found.

info Single Source 3

check_circle Corroborated 2

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Claim 1: “plus a wholesale and e-commerce business.”

CORROBORATED

CNBC explicitly mentions a 'growing wholesale and e-commerce business', and another source confirms products are available in various grocery stores (wholesale) and can be shipped nationally (e-commerce).

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web search NEUTRAL — E-commerce draws on technologies such as mobile commerce, electronic funds transfer, supply chain management, Internet marketing, online transaction processing, electronic data interchange, inventory …
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/E-commerce

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web search NEUTRAL — Why Wholesale Ecommerce Platforms Matter in 2026. Wholesale ecommerce is no longer limited to large importers and traditional distributors. Many small and mid-sized businesses now rely on online whole…
https://techbullion.com/best-wholesale-ecommerce-platforms-2…

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web search NEUTRAL — B2B wholesale versus retail ecommerce. Types of wholesalers. How B2B ecommerce helps wholesalers.Now that you know how wholesale ecommerce works, let’s look at the main differences between wholesale a…
https://www.shopify.com/sg/enterprise/blog/wholesale-ecommer…

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Claim 2: “brought in $2.8 million in total sales in 2025, according to documents reviewed by CNBC Make It.”

SINGLE SOURCE

The $2.8 million sales figure is explicitly mentioned in the CNBC headline/article. No other independent source provides this specific financial data to corroborate it.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Buffalo milk is thought to produce better malai because of its high fat content. Buffalo milk with fat contents varying from 5 to 12% is boiled and then cooled down to 4 °C (39 °F) for best results.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Malai

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web search NEUTRAL — With locations in Dallas, Southlake, and Fort Worth, Malai Kitchen showcases a different side of Southeast Asian cuisine. Led by husband-and-wife team Braden and Yasmin Wages, the concept was inspired…
https://www.malaikitchen.com/

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web search NEUTRAL — Malai, figuratively meaning “cream of the crop,” in a North Indian language, is an ice cream company that draws inspiration from globally-sourced whole ingredients, aromatic spices, and unexpected twi…
https://www.malai.co/

info

Claim 3: “The company, which Bavishi founded in 2015”

SINGLE SOURCE

The provided evidence mentions the Brooklyn shop opened in 2019, but does not explicitly confirm the company's founding date as 2015 across multiple sources. The CNBC source is the primary driver for the business details.

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Claim 4: “operates four brick-and-mortar locations across New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C.”

CORROBORATED

Multiple independent sources confirm the presence of stores in Brooklyn (NY), Washington D.C., and Philadelphia. CNBC explicitly mentions 'four brick-and-mortar locations', and other sources confirm the expansion into these specific cities.

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — The business — which operates four brick-and-mortar locations across New York, Philadelphia and Washington D.C., plus a growing wholesale and e-commerce business — distinguishes itself in a ...
https://www.cnbc.com/2026/05/13/malai-founder-how-i-built-ic…

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Besides the new scoop shop in Philadelphia, Malai operates from its flagship location in Brooklyn and another shop in Washington, D.C. Additionally, Malai products are available in various grocery sto…
https://third-news.com/article/6319ce58-330f-11f0-b8cf-9ca3b…

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web search NEUTRAL — With Malai's artisanal shop opening in Brooklyn in 2019, and expanding to Washington, D.C. in 2024 and Philadelphia in May, Bavishi is building more than a business.
https://www.msn.com/en-us/foodanddrink/foodnews/malai-founde…

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Claim 5: “Pooja Bavishi, 42, is the founder and CEO of Brooklyn, New York-based ice cream company Malai.”

SINGLE SOURCE

While the CNBC source confirms Pooja Bavishi is the founder of Malai, the specific age (42) is not corroborated by the other provided web results. The other search results for 'Pooja' are irrelevant (Hindu rituals).

travel_explore

web search NEUTRAL — Puja (Sanskrit: पूजा, romanized: pūjā) is a worship ritual performed by Hindus to offer devotional homage and prayer to one or more deities, to host and honour a guest, or to spiritually celebrate an …
https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Puja_(Hinduism)

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web search NEUTRAL — Aug 31, 2024 · Discover the meaning and importance of pooja, a sacred Hindu ritual that involves offering prayers and gifts to the divine. Explore the different types of pooja, including daily prayers…
https://yogadura.com/what-is-a-pooja/

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web search NEUTRAL — Nov 21, 2023 · Learn what puja is in Hinduism, its spiritual significance, and how to perform a puja ceremony at home. A complete guide to this sacred devotional practice.
https://yogajala.com/what-is-puja/

info Disclaimer: This analysis is generated by AI and should be used as a starting point for critical thinking, not as definitive truth. Claims are verified against publicly available sources. Always consult the original article and additional sources for complete context.