Premium ice creams out?
Photo: Lior Filshteiner
Ice cream sales expected to drop this summer
Dun & Bradstreet economists estimate ice cream sales in Israel will slightly fall this year, reach some NIS 1 billion. Due to recession, Israelis expected to reduce consumption of prestigious ice cream brands, buy simpler products
The summer of 2009 is expected to see a drop in ice cream sales in Israel,
according to data released last week by the Dun & Bradstreet economists.
According to estimates, ice cream sales will range between NIS 950 million (about $245 million) and NIS 1 billion ($257 million) – a slight drop in sales compared to last year.
According to sources in the ice cream industry, the recession in the economy will have an effect on the ice cream market, prompting the Israeli consumer to buy less prestigious ice cream brands and raise the demand for simpler products.
According to Dun & Bradstreet economists, the main manufacturer in the Israeli ice cream market is the Strauss company, which produces about half of all ice cream sold in Israel.
The second player in the ice cream market is Nestle, which produces about a third of all ice cream in Israel. The third biggest company is Feldman, followed by relatively smaller companies.
20 million liters consumed during summer
The data released also reveal that one-third of ice cream sales in Israel take place in the "barcode market" – mainly supermarkets. Another half of the sales are performed without advanced planning in the "impulse market" – meaning ice cream parlors and kiosks, while the remaining sales are carried out in places like cafés and restaurants.
According to the report, in the past few years the average growth rate in the industry stood at 4-6%, while in the last decade ice cream sales in Israel went up by about 420%. During the summer, Israelis consume an average of 20 million liters of ice cream.
An international comparison reveals that while an Israeli consumes an average of 8 liters of ice cream a year, a European consumes 15 liters a year, despite the weather differences. Americans are considered the world's biggest ice cream consumers, with an annual consumption of 20 liters per capita.
