When Jai Singh arrived in Australia from Amritsar in 2019, he had $2,000 in his bank account and no connections, just a spot in Western Sydney University’s Bachelor of Nursing program.
Six years later, the 25-year-old Indian immigrant is preparing to open what he says is South Australia’s first independent Ben & Jerry’s Scoop Shop, at Shop 3, 62 Hindley Street, Adelaide. He is also one of the youngest Ben & Jerry’s owners in Australia.
“I can’t believe it,” he says. “I think I can bring a young touch to the brand.”
Before ice cream, there was nursing.
After completing his degree, Singh moved to rural South Australia when an opportunity came up in Murray Bridge. “I said, why not?”. He fell in love with the small-town rhythm of quiet streets, familiar faces, and the easy warmth of strangers. He never went back to Sydney.
For three years, he worked in aged care and palliative care, often sitting with people in their final days and supporting their families. “Almost every person I met had regrets,” he says. “Not a single person said, ‘I fulfilled everything in my life.’ I didn’t want to become that person.”
The work was meaningful, but emotionally heavy. “When the first person died in front of me, I cried more than the family,” he says. “I was like, this is so painful.”
He also witnessed deep loneliness. “You won’t believe how many people die without anyone around them. Sometimes I was the only one there.”
The turning point came during a night shift in Wallaroo. A planned blackout left the small rural town in darkness, and Singh stepped outside under a sky full of stars. “I suddenly thought you love what you do, but do you want to do this for your whole life?”
He thought of his childhood in Punjab, where weekend ice cream trips were small but memorable family rituals. “I have such an emotional connection with ice cream. I wanted to create that same feeling for people.”
That thought led him to Ben & Jerry’s. As he googled more about the brand with its focus on social causes, human rights and ethical sourcing, it struck a chord. “It aligned with me. They sell ice cream, but they also care about people.”
The leap, however, was far from easy. His parents were worried. “You are 22,” they told him. “You don’t know anything. How will you do this?”
By then, Singh had saved about $100,000 through years of long shifts and careful spending. But the total cost of the franchise ran into several hundred thousand dollars, which meant taking on a bank loan.
“In Indian families, taking on that kind of debt is scary,” he says. “But sometimes you have to take that risk to build something.”
He went through multiple rounds of interviews, with the final one conducted by the CEO of Ben & Jerry’s Australia and New Zealand.
“He said, ‘Jai, you look like a good fit.’”
Singh left nursing about six weeks ago to focus entirely on the business. He has hired 12 staff from diverse backgrounds and wants the shop to feel less like a workplace and more like a shared space.
Opening day is set for Monday, 5 May, from 12pm to 8pm, with unlimited free scoops to mark Ben & Jerry’s Free Cone Day.
The choice of Hindley Street is deliberate. Known for its nightlife and, more recently, its decline, it is not the obvious location for a family-friendly ice cream shop.
“People say it’s dying off,” Singh says. “I think Ben & Jerry’s can bring some life back.”
It is a gamble, one he is fully aware of.
“I am putting my whole life savings into this. It can go either way. But I’ll make it work.”
Nursing, he insists, will always remain a part of him. “I can never separate myself from it.”
But for now, he is choosing to act on what he learned at the bedside — not to wait.
“If I can do it, anyone can do it,” he says. “If you come to a country and don’t know anyone, you can still build something.”
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