Justin Holtkamp: On the Dairy Queen trail

With his casual blue shirt and matching backpack, Justin Holtkamp looks too laidback to be director of International Marketing of the American Dairy Queen Corporation, Orange Julius of America and Karmelkorn Shoppes, Inc. He has been with the corporation for six years, shuttling between 22 countries to be able to check on Dairy Queen/ Orange Julius operations.

"I’m away from home one third of the year," says the Minneapolis resident who was in Metro Manila recently to visit the Dairy Queen store at Level 3 of Gateway Mall in Araneta Center, Quezon City. "It has been two years since the re-launch of the Dairy Queen brand in the Philippines and we’ve had people come up to say, ‘Oh, you guys are back!’ There are a lot of happy memories with Dairy Queen."

The Araneta Group of Companies recently acquired the Dairy Queen franchise and Grace Magno, SVP Marketing for the Araneta Group of Companies, says that sales are above initial targets. "We’re happy with the Filipinos’ extremely good reception of Dairy Queen’s premium ice cream and treats. The store is doing very well and we are planning expansion in other malls around Metro Manila," she says.

American Dairy Queen Corporation and Orange Julius of America are wholly owned subsidiaries of International Dairy Queen Corporation. With 5,500 restaurants all over the world, Dairy Queen is known for great-tasting soft-serve ice cream products, especially the Blizzard Flavored Treats – thick and creamy soft-serve ice cream blended with premium cookies and candy-like Oreo cookies, cheesecakes, brownies, strawberry and chocolates. On the other hand, Orange Julius is known for its Julius hotdogs and fruit smoothies.

As International Marketing Manager, Holtkamp’s enthusiasm and partiality for Dairy Queen is not merely because of his position in the corporation. "I grew up on Dairy Queen. It was always a family tradition," he says, adding that his earliest memory of Dairy Queen was when "my favorite aunt brought me to Dairy Queen when I was about five years old. We were at her cabin by the lake and we regularly went to town to the Dairy Queen." Caramel remains his favorite flavor.

To the observation that ice cream is perceived as a product mostly for the young, Holtkamp disagrees: "I don’t know about that. I’ll argue that I don’t know anybody who doesn’t like ice cream. It doesn’t matter what age they are. My 80-year-old grandma likes ice cream. She still goes to Dairy Queen." The ice cream served at Dairy Queen is 94 percent fat-free, by the way.

"The most difficult part of the job is educating people on what we have because we have a huge menu and a wide variety," says Holtkamp about Dairy Queen ice cream, which is made fresh every day. Although the brand currently uses 99-percent imported ingredients – from ice cream to frozen fruits, cups and cones – Holtkamp says, "As we add more locations, we’ll be sourcing more items from the Philippines. Our goal is to support the local economy." Special ice cream flavors available only in the Philippines are part of the plan.

Dairy Queen locations in the malls have an excellent advantage because, according to Holtkamp, "Ice cream is an impulse treat." With the store’s attractive new look, quick service and wide variety of products, Dairy Queen is fast becoming a favorite of mall-going Filipinos who love quality ice cream and smoothies at a reasonable cost.

What are the rewards of working for Dairy Queen? Holtkamp sums it up: "Where else can you work for a company that makes people happy? Ice cream is a fun product. You eat ice cream to be happy." Holtkamp adds that Dairy Queen is focusing on the Philippines and China as its quick-growth markets this year.