“Business is still highly seasonal here, as almost 80% of the sales are made from May through September. Impulse-buy products account for around 67% of the total market,” said Cristian Doxan, country business manager Ice Cream with Nestle Romania. “This year, however, we’ve noticed an increase in the sales of take-home products. This is because of the expansion of modern retail and of a slight change in consumption habits, as Romanians are beginning to see ice cream as a dessert instead of an impulse-buy during summer.”
Nestle’s best-known ice cream brands include Aloma, Top Gun, Nirvana, Best and Joe.
Nestle official says that the market has most likely remained at the same level as last year, with consumption influenced by the low purchasing power, especially as a result of the decline in wages, layoffs and tax hikes.
Available information shows the ice cream market to amount to about EUR140-150 million, with a very low consumption per capita at about 1.6 kilos a year. Furthermore, the Romanian ice cream market is highly fragmented.
Doxan says that, despite market stagnation, the company had a good season, with significant sales increases driven by product launches, promotions and aggressive marketing campaigns.
“January-May period brought us an increase in market share compared to the same time in 2010, consolidating our leading position at 23.3% of the value of the market, according to market research company MEMRB data.”
Judging from this market share and the total ice cream sales in Romania, Nestle’s business could be worth over EUR30 million.
Another giant on Romania’s ice cream market is Unilever, whose portfolio includes such brands as Napoca, Rom, Big Milk and the Algida unit. Then there are also the Romanian ice cream producers, the most important of which are Betty Ice, Alpin 57 Lux, Kubo Ice Cream and Top Gel.
(English version by Loredana Fratila-Cristescu; Editing by Radu Bostan)