New Delhi, March 27, 2021: The early arrival of summer this year has given a push to ice cream sales, which have seen double digit growth since last month against the pre-Covid levels of 2019.
Starting February, many parts of the country have seen mercury rise over 35°C, which is around 6-7 degrees higher than normal.
According to the India Meteorological Department (IMD), Delhi recorded 33.2°C on 25 February, 8 degrees above normal. Moreover, IMD seasonal outlook for the temperatures from March to May 2021 shows that above normal seasonal minimum temperatures are likely to prevail over most of the subdivisions of north India.
This has led to an exponential boost in ice cream sales across the country after a disastrous season last year, wherein the peak season of April to June was washed away in lockdown.
Now, most of the major ice cream brands have witnessed double digit growth against the pre-Covid sale levels of 2019. Starting from February, sales figures have seen a 20-30 per cent rise. For some brands, the figure is as high as 60 per cent.
Speaking to ThePrint, milk cooperative Amul’s Managing Director R.S. Sodhi said the company’s ice cream sales have gone up substantially.
“Our sales in February this year against last year are up by 40 per cent while in March it is three times compared to last year. However, it will be rational to compare it to the March 2019 sale. In that case also, we have witnessed over 30 per cent increase in sales pre-Covid level as summer has arrived more aggressively this year,” he said.
Apart from Amul other major brands such as Vadilal and Mother Dairy also registered massive boost in sales this year according to the reports published in theprint.in.
Vadilal Industries Ltd Managing Director Rajesh Gandhi said, “Compared to 2019 sales level there is a 20-30 per cent increase in February which has further increased to over 60 per cent in March as heat has started prematurely this year.”
He added, “This year is going to be a very good season especially in the peak season which lasts from April-June for the western part of the country whereas for the northern part it goes on till July.”
Sanjay Sharma, dairy products business head at Mother Dairy said, “We expect the summers of 2021 to be a season of revival for the overall ice cream industry due to an early rise in temperatures and normalcy gradually setting in. The sales are recovering to the pre-Covid levels as of March 2021.”
He said, “We anticipate a growth of 15-20 per cent in sales over 2019 for the next three peak months of the ice cream season — April, May and June as we plan to launch 8-10 new products.”
