Ice Cream Market Heats Up By Brands Battle

Ice cream market is a growing market in Bangladesh. Change of people’s income level and life style this market has developed huge consumer in recent years. Though it is a seasonal business, many new domestic and foreign companies want to tap that growth and making a venture in this sector.

Kazi Farms - a local giant in poultry sector already launched its ice cream early this year.

Golden Harvest Agro, which presently ready-to-eat foods markets, plans to enter the business. By the yearend, the company eyes to launch its ice cream.

An official of Olive Tree said that Cold Stone Creamery (a concern of US-based Kahala) is set to open its first store this year with Olive Tree Foods as its local franchisee. All of them encouraged to enter this market by the growing buying power of people.

Kazi Food Industries Ltd is gradually expanding distribution of its ice cream brand, Bellissimo.

Md Sajjadur Rahman, deputy manager (brand) of Kazi Food Industries Ltd said, “The upper middle class is our target customer groups, where is a demand in premium segment of the market “. He also informed that nearly taka 550 crore market of branded ones now in Bangladesh. 15-20 percent of it’s as premium ice creams account.

 “Quality is the main matters in the ice cream industry, not price. The firms should deliver quality products to sustain in the competition,” Rahman added.

“Growing buying power of people boosts the demand for ice cream and we want to tap that growth,” said Mohius Samad Choudhury, chief operating officer (COO) of Golden Harvest Agro Industries Ltd. He informed that they will make ice cream through one of their subsidiaries: Golden Harvest Ice Cream Ltd. which will need an investment of nearly Tk 170 crore to set up the factory and develop a distribution channel. He also said that companies existing 18,000 outlets with frozen facilities is their big advantage.

Cold Stone Creamery linked with Olive Tree by a ten-year franchise agreement to open store in Bangladesh, said Salman Shahab, general manager of Olive Tree Foods Ltd. “We want to open our first store this year in a posh area to cater to the middle and upper middle class,” he said. They also have aims to putting their ice cream at retails after open four Cold Stone Creamery stores including first one within next four years. Cold Stone stores are operating in more than 420 international locations and in 20 countries, including China, Singapore, South Korea, Canada, Nigeria, Egypt and the United Arab Emirates.

According to the annual report of Golden Harvest Ago Industries for 2012, branded ice cream market share is nearly 85 percent of the country’s annual market of Tk 650 crore. Three recognized brand ice cream lead the market now in Bangladesh. According to industry insiders, Abdul Monem’s Igloo, Dhaka Ice Cream’s Polar and Kwality Food’s Kwality account for nearly 70 percent of the branded market. Imported ice creams of foreign brands such as Mövenpick, Baskin-Robbins, Anderson’s and Häagen-Dazs are also creating a space here.