Post Covid-19 Ice Cream Industry: New Trends & Consumer Insights

Covid-19 has impacted many sectors, and one of them is the food and beverage industry. Companies are facing significantly reduced consumption and disrupted supply chains. This will lead to long-term changes in consumer behaviour and demand.

This article will share a research-based impact on consumer behaviour and market along with a detailed overview of the Ice cream industry post-Covid-19.

Impact on Consumer Behaviour and Market

Pandemic is expected to have a lasting impact on purchasing behaviours. Compared to previous years, we noticed that food and beverage consumers were more concerned with hygiene, safety, and trust during the pandemic. Besides, consumers are more likely to focus on value in their purchase decision.

According to Google’s research, 77% of consumers worldwide said that they would be more cautious about cleanliness, health and safety when the pandemic passes.

A few surveys recorded that:

57% of consumers globally will be more concerned about their immunity even after Covid-19.

31% of surveyed consumers are purchasing more items tailored to health and nutrition.

These behaviour shifts are likely to stay in the market even after the pandemic, which for food and beverage companies intends to continue the consumer preference for products that claim to enhance immunity and support overall well-being.

Impact On Ice Cream Industry:

To get in-depth knowledge of the Ice-cream industry in the current time, we gathered the most asked and most searched questions of the Ice cream industry and planned a session with Mr. Anil Koradia, Managing Partner at Gujarat Enterprise, to make our clients and consumers aware of the current market situation. Mr. Anil is in the industry for 30+ years and has the expertise to analyze trends.

Question: Pandemic and the lockdown has impacted the ice-cream industry severely. As a businessman, tell us what experiences were faced during the period?

“These are uncertain times; no one saw it coming, but here we are at the tail end of this pandemic. The pandemic and subsequent lockdown that happened paused the ice cream industry and several industries for a while.

But we have survived because of the human spirit, and we will continue to do so. It has helped us re-centre our priorities and look at the future from a different perspective. A perspective where sustainability has to be at the centre of all the businesses. During this whole pandemic situation, all business suffered, but we survived.

So, in a way, we had to fight to survive it entirely, and we found different ways to do that. We targeted untapped markets with completely new applications, and we went into overdrive for doing R&D for exciting new products.

This has helped us bounce back to restore some parity and given us a platform to launch from here for a new set of challenges in the coming times. Innovation, Divergence, & Sustainability were core to us during the COVID times, and of course, everyone’s safety was a top priority for us,” replied Mr. Anil.

Question: The world has slowed down because of the pandemic. According to you, will new ideas and concepts, flavours, and ingredients will be helpful to pull the industry back on track to give a new push to the industry?

Mr. Anil stated that “As I earlier mentioned, no one saw this time coming, and even before this chaotic time, there were a lot of innovations were about to roll out in terms of new concepts & ingredients like pH neutral coatings, vegan ice-cream, natural colours, savoury or salty flavours, added functional benefits, etc.

Hence, we can consider this time as a normal roadblock, and once everything settles down, we will see that rate of the new product launch in the market will increase as innovators did get ample time to conduct their R&D in lockdown, and this will in a way help all of us. The new products will be available everywhere such as in supermarkets, cafes, etc. And people will buy and enjoy their ice creams again without worrying about anything.”

Question: It has been observed that consumers have shifted in mass towards online ordering in the last 2-3 quarters. Will these online sales & food delivery platforms prove fruitful to increase sales of ice creams?

It’s a boon for the industry, I believe. The more people will consume ice cream, the better it is for the Ice cream industry, whether through the traditional way or the new online ordering way. And we should be responsible & practical in our approaches in such times. Ordering online is preferred because people do not want to step out of their house because of the fear of getting infected, so that is the way it should be. Also, it will help increase the outreach of the products as well. Online ordering will continue even if things return to normal, and this practice will open new perspectives and opportunities for the ice-cream industry.

Question: Ice cream companies are now focusing on and promoting their products on home delivery apps. Will this help in the growth of your business juxtaposed to manufacturing and sales?

Definitely Yes. We have seen D2H or D2C models being successful very recently, and it is the right way to approach consumers in the present time. This will help in increasing the number of people consuming dairy desserts like Ice cream. Simultaneously, the logistics part and its challenges in the supply chain may have to be looked at severely if it is successful in our Ice cream industry.

Planning for Food & Beverage success in 2021

If you want to generate a more significant ROI for your Ice cream industry, follow the above trends and ensure your marketing strategy is in line with the post-Covid needs of your customer base.

Ensure a strong ROI on your 2021 marketing efforts by assuring your campaign efforts align with the new buying behaviours, expectations, and habits that your Food & Beverage customers have developed during the pandemic.