Wariqueando and the story behind “I Scream”, the ice cream parlor with which they take a step beyond their success on social networks

“We are Miguel and Pancho, we cook, we travel and we recommend you where to eat in Peru”, that is the description of Wariqueando, the Instagram account of two friends that was born as a hobby, but today it is their job. Such was their growth that in December 2022 they opted for a business, an ice cream parlor: I Scream, which is close to having its second location in Lima. Provecho spoke with Miguel and Pancho about his path and the new proposal that is highly sought after by his followers.

Wariqueando, Miguel and Pancho’s hobby.

– How was the account born?

Miguel: Exactly five years ago, we both worked and a note came out about the three best markets in Lima to eat ceviche and we decided to visit them, but earlier with a group of friends we had started to visit different cities in Peru and we did the same, visit huariques. What we did in the market was take a photo of the plate and upload it to Facebook. So people started asking where is it? How much is it? How is the location? And there we realized that there were no pages that recommend where to eat and we began to discuss the project. One day at the gym we started to drop names and Rico Pe Causa came out, but it wasn’t so commercial, so days later we came back with Wariqueando, with “W” because there wasn’t a page with that name and that’s how it started.

– How did the recommendations start?

Pancho: We always asked the best places in the markets or on trips, to the people who passed where they ate best. We both agreed that we liked to go to different places, to eat, above all, to look for typical food. In addition, we always thought about the economy and thus we tried to discover everything, from a restaurant to a huarique. So we started posting on our Facebook page.

– When do they start taking it with a job?

Miguel: We both work in the office, I worked near Canada Avenue and Pancho in the BBVA tower, in San Isidro, so we had to do our tours at night. At 7 at night we would go to Villa de El Salvador, San Juan de Lurigancho, Villa María, and at that time we both lived in Lima Norte, so we would arrive at 1 in the morning at our homes, that routine began to tire us. a bit, in addition, they began to invite us to events and the excuses to ask for permission were running out, so I decided to resign to dedicate time to Wariqueando and W Store, a personalized products venture that was born as a result of what they were achieving with the page. Months later Pancho resigns, by the end of 2019 we were both already dedicated to Wariqueando 24/7. Wariqueando is beginning to become a reference site for users of social networks, and as Pancho and Miguel point out, the goal has always been to be honest with their followers and seek economy with their tours. In addition, the pandemic allowed them to reinvent themselves and even show their culinary skills by offering their users different recipes such as Miguel’s mother’s cachanga, which reached more than 20 million views. However, the challenges continue for these friends. At the end of 2022, they started a new project: I scream.

– How do you dare to start a new business like I scream?

Pancho: We have always had the entrepreneurial spirit. My mother is a businessman, we have that spirit, that desire to undertake and since Wariqueando was created, at the beginning we just wanted to set up an ice cream parlor. About seven years ago, fried ice cream became popular in Peru, so we got the bug of being able to launch a brand, but a friend recommended that we better focus on creating a community. But since about two years ago, we once again got into our heads to create something physical and the people who follow us also asked us for a restaurant. So, the proposal came out.

– How has the process of this new business been?

Miguel: We got together to talk and see the place and we began to make the changes, we hired architects and designers to give the brand a change, a twist, because the idea was to come out with something different. And so it was, we opened on December 21 with a different experience for our followers, because in reality we knew that the potential customers would be our followers. So it was.

– Are your users going to look for you at the store?

Miguel: We go to the venue whenever we can because the experience of your followers going and seeing you and being able to talk and interact a bit is different. There are still Sundays when I am at the till, which is the first contact with customers. And it’s super cool to realize that they go from Villa María, Chorrillo and even from abroad to the local Surquillo.

– What is the offer of I Scream?

Miguel: We have eight flavors, but we not only sell ice cream, we have three presentations: In a glass, in a waffle, which are cone-type waffles, and we also have roll tacos, which are taco-type. Everything we offer we work on. As for the flavors, we have eight: Mancorita, which is passion fruit, mango, lucuma, Captain Cracker, which is strawberry and Honey Cracker cookie, Brownie, Blueberries and Oreo cookie.

– In I Scream they also generate content as in Wariqueando. What are the challenges about?

Pancho: We saw on a page that they did these challenges and we said, why not use ingredients and make it into ice cream? And we have a lot of ideas, but always with limits too, but since our product is super versatile it allows us to combine it with snacks, fruits, among others, and we have done that with Cheese Tris, which to be honest turned out quite well. We have also made with nougat.

The guys from Wariqueando are about to open a new place in San Miguel, much bigger than the one they have now in Surquillo, this will allow them to have eight tables. In addition, they intend to close the year with four stores. Regarding the account, his followers will not only have recommendations from Peru, but also from other countries, because this year they will begin to travel outside the country and the first point will be Argentina, where in addition to huariques they will visit Peruvian restaurants.