Bringing every cheer of the festival a great halt, lockdown has dampened the high spirits of the Ramazan celebration. Barring a few, many big and small players experienced a situation of ‘No Sales’ during the festive season which they were hopefully banking on. In expectation of higher sales in summer, the announcement of re-lockdown sent frenzy people looking for all that they could buy for Ramazan.
The Holy month of Ramazan prohibits many routine activities, of which consumption of food and beverages lists on prime position. Fasting or abstaining from food and water is considered an act of purification of body and soul between dawn (fajr) to dusk (maghrib). The practice of fasting is practically followed by all the cultures of the human race varying in months and timings. Sole purpose- Purification.
Fasting in the month of Ramazan was made obligatory and iftaar meals usually contain milk and milk products, fresh fruits & juices, cooked meals of vegetables, meats of ruminants and poultry, eggs, bread, cheeses, sweets, and of course ice creams if the weather is hot!!!
A craving for sweets is frequent if you are fasting. People prefer to iftaar with milk puddings, ice cream, sorbets, and fruit salads to raise the energy level. Food experts recommend eating slow-digesting foods that are rich in fiber and protein. They advise making your after-iftaar meals rich in dairy products to include natural fats and some form of protein. At iftaar, you should aim to eat high-quality protein that is highly digestible and contain all the essential amino acids. Your body uses these to build and maintain muscle mass. Milk, yogurt, ice creams, eggs, cheese, fish, and poultry are all completely high-quality proteins.
Desserts are the most opted sweets during Ramazan. After long hours of abstinence, the energy level drops along with glucose in the body and it is here that brain and body crave instant energy coming from sugary products. However, as the metabolism slows down during fasting, it is important to choose the right dessert. Nutritionists recommend you to consume low-calorie sweets such as ice cream and milkshakes, which are easy to digest instead of desserts consisting of high calories and syrup that slows down your metabolism. You can buy ice cream from trustworthy brands and store it in the refrigerator.
Experts also opine on the traditional Ramazan desserts at iftaar and sahur tables. They advise “Güllaç” – rice wafers stuffed with nuts – is a fine alternative that you can consume after your main dishes. It is also good to cut down portion sizes and enrich these kinds of desserts with ice cream, in order to balance your blood sugar. You can serve your favourite ice creams and offer guests a light and refreshing dessert.
Having a balanced iftaar is important as it’s the meal that replenishes energy stores and help sustain your fast the following day
On this lovely occasion, Ice Cream Times newspaper spoke to a few of our esteemed industry people about their responses on Ramazan sales during the lockdown.
Ice Cream Times called Devansh Shah, from Scoop Ice cream, Hyderabad to gather info about their stand on ice cream sales in Ramazan.
Devansh was delighted by the Ramazan sales that actually turned out to be good regardless of lockdown. Consumption of nuts is very high during Ramazan and people demanded ice creams with nuts and sales rose at this time and were good. The fruit-flavoured ice cream was also on the rise. Compared to last year, this year too was not very elated with the imposition of lockdown and night curfews, the sales was not that good what it seemed to be in March’21 month which kicked off at good rate. But special flavours for Ramazan took off pretty good with an increase of 20-30 per cent.
Despite the lockdown, we experienced a good amount of online sales. Referring to last year, there was practically nothing, no sales at all due to total lockdown.
“The company remained closed during EID hence we saw no sales at all. Yet the nature of our work starts from December onwards and lasts till March which was very promising, April sales were down by 50 percent and from 3rd -4th May saw lockdown”, cited Shiv Kumar.
Ice cream times went ahead in its task of getting more comments from the manufacturers from Maharashtra and called Baba bhai, from Classic Ice cream, Shirdi. Baba bhai was let down by the current scenario. Unhappy over the surroundings, he said, “Speaking particularly for this Ramazan comparing to the last, we had some business of say 10-20% sales, max to max you can count 25%, that’s all. We are expecting some sales but not much just 10% to 20% sales from Malegaon, Aurangabad and nearby places. Being rural area you cannot expect online sales”.
Moving further towards Gujarat, we spoke to Farooque Bhai, from Kathiyawad Ice cream. Giving us a piece of detailed information, Farooque bhai said, “Because of lockdown, we scored around 25-30 per cent sales and around 70-75 percent business went in the minus state. From April onwards till now we are facing a similar
situation. Otherwise, in February-March 2021 the business was good and we were hoping to get good results this time”.
“When Ramazan arrives in off-season then the sales soar high, but when it’s in season then sales dip. The reason for this is that iftaar is in the evening and after 8 pm people usually move out in the summers. Now after 8 pm as there is Janta lockdown, how can one go out and eat ice cream so impulse buying is practically absent. Though kirana shops are open, small kiosks of paan are all closed that hampers the sales. These kiosks make around 80 per cent of their sales. But this time whatever business we were supposed to bag in Ramazan, all plummeted. We have expected 35-40 per cent sales after Eid as our Muslim families shall be celebrating Eid with ice cream. We are waiting for 14th May for the market to open and we gain some business before the summer period gets over.
Gujarat being the hub of ice cream industry, we got an opportunity to speak to Shabeer Bhai, from Amod.
“Everywhere you will see that business is down. It’s not that for Ramazan shops are opened, just little bits of business can be seen coming from interiors of the rural areas. Our sales is around 30 per cent. For the next two days, we can expect another sale of 15-20 percent so the total might come to 40 per cent sales. As far as online sales are concerned, ours is a somewhat rural area but our distributors look into it and they work it out ice cream sales on online”.
Who doesn’t relishes Naturals Ice cream of Mumbai? One of the landmarks of Mumbai’s Juhu area is where the wonderful parlour is. Ice cream times called Girish Pai, Naturals Ice cream, and spoke over the phone
for the performance of Mumbai’s favourite frozen treat.
Thrilled by the feedback from the consumers’ online demand, Girish Pai replied, “This Ramazan has given us a very good response. And we are expecting very good sales in Eid also. Hence, we have made an extra provision for ice creams also. Last month we were working on alternate days, but this month onwards we are working all five days. Our sales are totally online. Though sales will not come to the level of post-season comparing the last season, right now it is 30-50 per cent that will peak to 70 per cent in June 2021”.
But on the other hand, Javed Tamboli from Kohinoor Ice cream, Solapur has expressed disappointment over the lockdown with nil business. “We have faced a complete washout sales. Being semi-rural area, there are no home deliveries, no portals….even as its festive time, there is practically no business at all”.
Conclusion
Trusting Market to open soon!!!
It’s like watching a mirage in the desert. The sands of time slipping by, leaving few grains in the fist. But, there is light at the end of every tunnel, so they say. Let’s walk together through these tough times and on the way keep encouraging the industry people to see the brighter side of the pandemic what it has taught us, to make the best out of it, as pandemic has given time to everyone to sit and think how best we can design a strategy to face such a situation.