The good news is consumers may not need to pay more to savour their favourite ice cream and dairy product brands due to fall in milk procurement prices and surplus stocks with dairies.
The India Meteorological Department (IMD) has forecast summer season temperatures to be above normal this year with a greater number of heat-wave days. Leading ice-cream brands are already experiencing a surge in demand.
“Summer is the most anticipated season for our business, especially for categories like ice creams, curd and beverages. We are expecting exponential growth in demand for dairy products in the coming months. Over the last 15 days, ice creams alone have witnessed a significant surge in demand versus the same period last year,” said Manish Bandlish, managing director, Mother Dairy.
‘Amul’, the popular dairy product brand of the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation (GCMMF) with a more than 50% share of India’s ice cream market, expects to continue its robust sales momentum this summer season as well.
“We have already seen a growth of 25% to 30% in the ice cream segment in the FY24. The growth in ice cream sales in the summer of 2024 is expected to be 30-40% more than last year’s summer season sale,” said Jayen Mehta, managing director, GCMMF.Companies have also invested in capacity expansion and to introduce new products to meet the potential demand growth.”We are fully prepared to match this growing demand and have already augmented our production capacities as well as our distribution infrastructure. As we get into the season, we are all geared up to excite consumers with our delightful offerings of over 30 new products. Overall, we are confident of delivering robust growth in our dairy products portfolio this year,” said Bandlish.
Meanwhile, lower raw material prices and ample stocks could allow dairy companies to manage production costs and avoid raising product prices. Milk prices have remained stable throughout the year, while they have fallen in Maharashtra, one of the top milk producing states.
“The dairy companies are offering various schemes to increase ice cream sales. Prices of dairy products are not likely to increase much as milk prices have not increased during this year,” said RS Sodhi, president, Indian Dairy Association.
“The demand is also expected to be more, which can lead to an increase in the overall summer season sale of dairy products by at least 15% to 20% over the previous year,” he said.
