Ice-cream

Introduction

The ice cream market growth picked up after de-reservation of the sector in 1997. Of the total size of Rs 15-16bn, around 30-32% is in the hands of organized sector valued at Rs 4.9bn, rest all is with the unorganized sector. Among the major players in this industry Hindustan Lever has a market share of around 50%, represented mainly by Kwality Walls brand. Amul with an estimated market share of 35% is rapidly gaining market share and lastly Vadilal is the player in the national market with 8-9% of the market share.

Production area

In rural areas, kulfis / ice creams made by small / cottage industry are popular. The market for organized sector is restricted to large metropolitan cities. In small towns and villages, there are thousands of small players who produce ice- creams / kulfis in their home backyard and cater to the local market. Almost 40% of the ice creams sold in the country are consumed in the western region with Mumbai being the main market, followed by 30% in the north and 20% in the south.

Growth promotional activities

The Indian government adopted the policy of liberalization regarding the ice cream industry also and it is since then that this sector has shown an annual growth ranging from 15- 20% per annum for last 1- 2 year. Presently in 1999- 00 it is estimated at worth of Rs15- 16bn. This growth rate is expected to continue for another next 2- 3 years because of lower base.

Types

Indian Ice Cream market can be segmented in three different ways, namely on the basis of flavors; on the basis of stock keeping units / packaging and on the basis of consumer segments. On the basis of flavors the market today has a number of flavors like vanilla, strawberry, chocolate, mango, butterscotch a number of fruit flavors, dry fruit flavors traditional flavors like Kesar- Pista, Kaju- Draksh etc.

The market is totally dominated by Vanilla, Strawberry and chocolate, which together account for more than 70% of the market followed by butterscotch and other fruit flavors.