Oct 1, 2020
Due to the global pandemic, the ice cream industry in India has shown dipping business. Not only big brands but others medium and smaller ones have struggled to keep the heads above the troubled waters and are trying to catch up with the new normal .
The industry experts have anticipated growth CAGR of 13.22 per cent over the forecast period from 2020-2027. It is further estimated to reach a market value of US$ 2,401.68 million by the end of this period.
While specialists can keep analyzing the growth of the industry, local manufacturers, vendors, franchisers and distributors are facing extreme challenges to stay afloat due to nil sales for extended periods of time on account of the complete lockdown.
Jitendra Kantilal Mehta, founder, Ami ice cream, said, “Covid-19 has brought about a lot of cut throat competition among big wigs in the market. Few manufacturers are ignoring quality and giving sub-standard products which ultimately lead to them losing credibility with the consumer. Standard product manufacturers are pushing their sales by giving such schemes which only MNCs or co-operative companies like Amul and Mother Dairy can afford. Due to lockdown, HoReCa businesses suffered huge losses. Several distributors had to throw away goods as they have passed expiration date while still paying related bills and taxes.”
Shuchi Tandon, owner, Ganpati Traders, said, “I have a distributorship of FMCG, among which Amul and Mother Dairy ice creams are the most important products from these companies. We have a cold room of nearly 1,000 cubic feet, before lockdown everything was going well with demand and supply of ice cream as well as frozen desserts but from the past few months, all our food products were stuck and have passed their expiration date. The companies didn’t compensate us even though we paid various bills and taxes for these goods”.
“Due to Covid-19, people are reluctant to buy ice cream fearing they will catch cough and pneumonia which are false rumours spread online,” stated Mehta of Ami.
“During lockdown, people also stopped buying ice creams as many rumours and lies were being circulated on the Internet about falling ill and testing positive for the coronavirus by eating ice cream and frozen desserts,” informed Tandon of Ganpati Traders.
Due to ongoing pandemic, consumers have been misguided relying on non-scientific based information which was freely available on the Internet and other social media, about the spread of the virus through ice cream. Hence, many ice cream manufacturers, distributors and business owners have suffered huge losses without any compensation.