It is a replacement market that maintains the stability of an essential product. The different segments in general retain their participation, and although the business still did not return to the levels prior to the pandemic, there are signs of recovery.

Por Rodolfo Pollini

Even with the problems of macroeconomics, the ice cream maker market maintains its replacement and product of need that elevates it, given the difficulties, over other types of consumption.

Sergio Doldan, commercial director of Autosal, acknowledged that the ice cream shops recovered a lot after the year of pandemic restrictions. "Being mostly a replacement market, crisis periods usually succeed periods of growth," he said. "Anyway, The current economic crisis, which directly attacked the purchasing power of the people, did not allow the market to have the prior values ​​to the pandemic. ”

"White line companies are not price -trainers," said D’a Andrea. "We try to absorb, via productivity improvements, the rise in raw materials costs, but in the long run it is impossible not to transfer the increases, because the contribution margins do not allow it."

Matías Ignacio Caridi Donato, in charge of the category in Newsan, expressed satisfied with the business profile. "Sales are good and in the first Q of this year we are 10% above the same period of 2021," he said and expressed good expectations about next season, even with the impact that the money will have towards televisions, for the World Cup. "The strong frigting season, which is also a product of first necessity, starts a month after the World Cup ends," he said.

"At the macro level, this year the ice cream makers' market has been growing," said Alexis D’a Andrea, Biket sales manager. “At the end of May the Sell In showed a growth of around 20% compared to the January-May period of 2021. That trend was noticed throughout the last year compared to 2020, and allows us to think that the rest of this year will be maintained and in a couple couple in frizzes, freezers and exhibitors.

Sebastián Schmid, commercial manager of INELRO, said the demand level is good. "Last year was superior to the previous ones and that trend is maintained, surely for the promotion of consumption through quota programs," he said. "In the segment where we work, which is that of the exhibitors and the freezers, we see that although the first months of the pandemic were complicated, in 2021 some savings began to be used for ventures, from small stores to chains that expanded."

Consumers and consumption
D’Arrea acknowledged that there is a change in the demand for commercial exhibitors, which has to do in part with the economy and the level of employment, which when it is complicated increases the accountPropism or entrepreneurship. “The ice cream makers continue to have public for all segments, with a tendency to give more importance to functionality, benefits or volume. It may have to do with inflation, in addition to eating habits, which makes it store more products or prepared foods, both in the refrigerator and freezer. In Pozo Freezers there is also a lot of family demand and for the same reason. ”

"In Argentina, particularly, the Non Frost segment does not grow more for the price," said Caridi Donato. "Although it is a mature technology, it has a 20% participation in units and 30% in value and in that volume it is maintained. There are about 120,000 ice cream shops per year, which is not little for the players that we are in this category."

"Most of our production is intended for vertical exhibitors, and among freezers, home are the majority of our production"Schmid said. "We are the only ones who develop inverter technology for these products and we are the second supplier of the Argentine market, because we offer a wide line that starts with a 130 -liter model that is the size of a washing machine, suitable for any environment and the largest, which inside maintain its demand." On the market, Caridi Donato divided cyclic frosts into three segments: 250 to 290 liters; From 290 to 340 and more than 340, the three with a fairly similar participation. "Combis no more than 40,000 units are sold annually, 5% of the market that in Argentina does not finish maturing, while in Europe almost all ice cream makers are combi," he said. "Side By Side does not exceed 5% of the market and Freezers is also a girl category but that for us had great growth. An explanation may be that people begin to store products such as an inflation damping."

Government policies end up affecting demand and also on supply. According to Doldan, the containment of imports in recent years allowed the strengthening of the national industry.

Pandemia and postpania
The Covid brought as one of its consequences the cuts in supplies chains and the consistent increases in prices. Worldwide. "For 2021 and this year there were significant increases in dollars in fuels and everything that has to do with logistics," said D’a Andrea. "The price increases in dollars of inputs and components, at the international level, have been very high. In some critical raw materials, such as oil derivatives or iron ore, exceeding 50%. That was why we had to add the supply problems due to decrease in the international frequency of freight or plant stops that are still observed in Asia as a result of the pandemic." "Not quite," said Schmid referring to the degree of standardization of the supply of parts and supplies. "There are still problems with the dollar increases in matters and components but also in the availability of logistics to South America, beyond the increase that freight had," he closed.