Ice cream sale rises as mercury soars, industry sees 45% spike

CHENNAI/NEW DELHI: Unprecedented demand for ice cream this summer has led to major supply shortages, forcing companies to crank up production by over 30%.
The early onset of summer and a prolonged period of heat have resulted in sales soaring by around 45% during the last three months compared to the corresponding period in 2019, showed industry estimates.
“Demand for ice cream and value-added dairy products such as lassi and buttermilk has doubled over last year,” said R S Sodhi, MD at Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which sells its products under the Amul brand name.“Companies, however, have not been stocking up in winter like they used to before the pandemic. This has led to shortages in certain cases,” he said. Manish Bandlish, MD at Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable, said this summer has been phenomenal for the dairy giant so far.

The jump demand in 2022 is expected to help the Rs 9,000-crore ice cream industry inch closer to the Rs 11,000-crore target, according to the Indian Ice Cream Manufacturers Association, a body representing 80 private ice cream makers.
The sale from March to June contributes to 45-50% of the annual turnover of ice cream makers with Maharashtra, Uttar Pradesh, Delhi-NCR, Gujarat, Andhra Pradesh, Telangana and Tamil Nadu being the top ice cream consuming states.
“This upswing in demand is largely on account of early summers and subsequent rise in temperatures, enhanced number of distribution assets coupled with the opening up of restaurants, offices, educational institutions,” said Bandlish. “Both our milk-based ice creams and dairy-based beverages have clocked a growth of over 35-40%, respectively, over the pre-Covid period.”
The spike in sales comes two years after the ice cream market was hit hard during the pandemic, when sales halved in 2020, only to revive partially the following year. This year, while the industry witnessed a booming demand for the on-the-go impulse portfolio, with subsequent rise in temperatures, in-home consumption, too, has picked up pace.
Pradeep G Pai, MD at Karnataka-headquartered Hangyo Ice Creams, said most companies have increased prices by 5-10% due to rising input costs.