Ice cream industry melting on a rumour
Hardly anyone arises at the National Parliament House nowadays to get some good fresh in the evenings.
And for Md Moslem Uddin, an ice cream seller who parks his cart before the yards of the heritage building each day, this development, due to the outbreak of coronavirus in Bangladesh in March, has been particularly brutal.
On an average, he sells ice creams worth Tk 3,000 to 3,500 daily and his monthly commission ranges from Tk 12,000 to Tk 15,000.
"My van's paddle has stopped therefore has my income," said Uddin, a father of two daughters.
And the blow came just when ice cream sales were about to hit peak demand with the rise in mercury in the united states.
The peak season for the Tk 1,500 crore ice cream industry ranges from March to June, which are simply the scorching summer months.
The countrywide shutdown since March 26 has pounded almost all sectors of the economy pretty much, however the ice cream, it seems, has been a victim of a cruel joke on top.
A rumour was spread on social media quoting the US Children's Fund that ice cream consumption would lead to catching coronavirus.
Though the US agency denied it, the damage was already done, with persons avoiding ice cream like plague.
"Our sales just abruptly nosedived when the propaganda was spread through social media," said GM Kamrul Hassan, ceo of Igloo Ice Cream, that includes a 42 % share of the market.
Igloo, the marketplace leader with 42 % shares, lost its probable sales around Tk 150 crore in the last few days, which may be the peak season for ice cream, he said.
Then your second blow came when the government announced the shutdown because about 60 per cent of the ice cream sales take place in the streets, he said.
"These sells just stopped," he said, adding that the distribution channel can be disrupted for legal reasons and enforcement departments.
Even though the shutdown is lifted, probably after April 25, persons may not jump back again to gorging ice cream.
"The psychological damage was already. The ice cream industry will struggle a lot," Hassan added.
Tanvir Haider Chaudhury, chief executive officer of Kazi Food Industries, whose two brands Za'n Zee and Bellissimo have cornered 12 % of the market, echoed the same.
"We missed the top-selling day of the year, which is Pahela Baishakh," he said, adding that his company's sales now are in the fractions.
Ice cream producers sell about 75 % of their products in just four months of the entire year, said Ahmed Rajeeb Samdani, chairman of Golden Harvest Group, that includes a 15 per cent share of the ice cream market using its two brands Kwality and Bloop.
But this year there is hardly any sales.
"The rumour spread among schools and guardians -- and our sales were pounded."
The unsold ice cream is now being housed at the storage facility, which is reaching full capacity.
"We are incurring electric bills. And we have no idea when the stock will be sold," he said, adding that the company lost sales of about Tk 30 crore since March 26.
Since people won't begin to consuming ice cream soon as a result of fear that came through the rumours, the raw materials will now must be discarded as those have an expiry date.
"The ice cream industry may be the highest influenced among all sectors and the growing market is merely likely to be destroyed by this pandemic," Samdani added.
According to analyze by LankaBangla Investments, the ice cream industry keeps growing at 15 % rate riding on rural consumers and surge in per capita income across the country.
It's the same scenario over the upscale ice cream parlours.
Kawser Zaman, operation manager of Gelatissimo, an Australian ice cream chain with five outlets in Dhaka, said their sales have hit rock-bottom.
"There are simply just no people on trips. And people are not in the mood for ice cream now," he added.
Abdul Mannan, manager of Movenpick, a Swiss ice cream chain, said the rumour just killed their sales.
"No country in Europe, where coronavirus is wreaking havoc, has seen such a crash in ice cream sales. But we were felled by a rumour," he added.
Rakibul Haque, assistant manager of Marble Slab Creamery, an American chain, said their in-store sales are non-existent but they remain getting some orders through Foodpanda and Uber Eats.
"But it is not significant," he added.
