Hot summer lifts drinks, ice cream sales
Premium- Beverage firms and ice cream makers are launching new products and campaigns to aid demand this season as India reported its warmest March in 121 years
NEW DELHI : With the early onset of summer coupled with heatwave sweeping large parts of India, consumer companies are witnessing a rise in demand for beverages, ice creams, and beer after two consecutive washout seasons.
Beverage firms and ice cream makers are launching new products and campaigns to aid demand this season as India reported its warmest March in 121 years. India’s weather department has also forecast severe hot weather conditions in northwest India and that augurs well for makers of drinks and ice-creams.
Data from retail intelligence platform Bizom showed a jump in beverage sales in March. The company attributed this increase in demand to a hot summer along with the start of the Indian Premier League season that is driving both social and in-home consumption.
Compared to a year ago period, sales (by value) of beverages increased over 35% in March 2022. This comes at a time when the overall FMCG category was down 3.5%. The increase also came despite the third wave earlier this year that delayed the placement of beverages in kirana stores, Bizom said. Month on month stocking up of beverages in kiranas was up 137% in March.
“With IPL grabbing eyeballs, we can expect many of these beverage brands to put out a high-decibel marketing campaign to become the preferred choice for consumers in the hot summer season that is very favourable for beverage consumption," said Akshay D’Souza, chief of growth and insights, Bizom.
Nadia Chauhan, joint managing director and CMO, Parle Agro said the company expects business to grow over 30% year-on-year this summer. The company pulled back advertising spends in 2020, as the first wave of covid brought about strict curbs, but resumed marketing activity in 2021. “In 2022 we've gone back to pre-covid levels as far as our spends are concerned," she said.
Early in March, the company roped in actor Ram Charan along with Alia Bhatt to endorse its mango drink brand Frooti. It also rolled out a new summer campaign for its fruit juice-based drink, B Fizz featuring Arjun Kapoor.
“Things are looking very positive and we're very excited to be able to go out with full force. As an outcome—all our brands are very active from a media standpoint, supported by a 360-degree campaign for each of them," Chauhan said.
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Last two summers were marred by store closures and restrictions on mobility. Chauhan said the company appointed 800 sales executives in last six months.
New Delhi-based Mother Dairy said its value-added beverages and ice-cream business in March grew 25% over pre-covid levels. “Although January-February were quite disturbed due to the third wave, in the month of March-April schools reopened, people are back on the streets," said Sanjay Sharma, Business Head, Dairy Products, Mother Dairy Fruit & Vegetable Pvt. Ltd.
Sharma said if things continue on a similar trajectory the industry could report one of the best summer seasons. “Business is back and how across categories; ice creams are doing exceedingly well. Our pro-biotic Nutrifit is a category we are slowly and steadily building now," he said.
Beverage maker Pepsico India is strengthening distribution both through traditional and e-commerce channels to be able to cater to consumers across urban and rural geographies. “The lifting of covid 19 restrictions across the country is expected to spur consumers to celebrate more occasions together and increase demand for beverage products driven by out-of-home consumption. At the same time, in-home consumption remains robust with consumers seeking value offerings," said George Kovoor, senior vice president, beverages, PepsiCo India.
Its beverage brands such as Pepsi, Tropicana and Mirinda, among others, will focus on campaigns to create excitement while pushing core products. “With the onset of summers, we have rolled out some fantastic campaigns for brands across the portfolio and the response has been overwhelming. Our beverage portfolio be it Pepsi, Mountain Dew, 7UP, Slice, Sting and Tropicana—all continue to see an uptake in demand across the country and are witnessing a jump in both penetration and frequency," said Kovoor.
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