“The first six weeks were somewhat better for our sales than the year-ago period. The weather was about the same as last summer, but the results were better, which means the economy was better and overall consumer spending increased,” Vasile Armenean said.
Betty Ice is the largest Romanian-held ice cream manufacturer. It posted a 30% increase in sales in 2015 to 113 million lei (EUR25 million), driven by the good weather and the food VAT cut from 24% to 9% as of June 1. It also posted RON22.6 million profit, three times higher than in 2014.
Betty Ice ranks second by volume and value on the ice cream market estimated at EUR150 million, behind fast moving consumer goods giant Unilever, according to market research company Euromonitor data.
Romania is close to the bottom in the European ranking of ice cream consumption, with only 2 liters per capita (20 ice cream cones) per year. In comparison, a Scandinavian eats 8 liters (80 ice cream cones) a year. (EUR1=RON4.4706)
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu)