The ice cream industry in India was projected to generate revenues of around $3.4 billion by 2021. But these targets look not possible in a post-COVID world. Industry players say it changed into a washout year for them and there are no chances of any recovery this year. Ice cream consumption has fallen between 60-80% in the country.
Ice cream is a dairy product, which is sweetened with either natural sugar or artificial sweeteners. Various ice creams are provided by the companies present in the market, including hard ice cream, soft ice cream, light ice cream, low-fat ice cream, and others. The ice cream consumers pay a premium price for these products, which in turn increases the revenue of the market.
Brands that can be largely dependent on the ice cream parlors to attain customers are the most hit. Some healing was visible in the retail shop phase in June. But , ice cream consumed at home cannot make up for the lost market as 60-65% of ice cream in the country is fed on out of the home. Also, 50-60% of the ice cream is consumed is after five pm which has got affected by shops shutting down early throughout the country. The silver lining for the ice cream industry has been the opening up of the e-commerce channel and home delivery of ice cream.
Apart from the lockdown, the fears of ice cream causing Covid infection had harmed the industry the maximum. Industry players admitted that they could not win consumer confidence back.
Sudhir Sitapati, ED & V-P, foods and refreshment, Hindustan Lever, and Chairman, CII national committee on food processing, stated the ice cream industry changed into the worst hit among the food industry because the entire year turned into a washout. The COVID disaster has displayed a weak spot in the category and the need to change perception. Consumer confidence in the product is fragile and the industry might come collectively to dispel the COVID myths. The street vendors, who offered ice cream on tricycles, have been on the verge of starvation and wanted assistance from the company for survival. He pointed out that the challenge was a good way to hold them in business through this difficult year.No matter the high double-digit rate of increase, the per capita intake in India was low.
