MUMBAI: Ice cream or frozen dessert? As you prepare to indulge in the summer treat, a cold war is brewing among its makers over which one is healthier.
Both use the same ingredients, but for one, which sets them a class apart. They are also available in similar price points, flavours, packaging and labeling that consumers often mistake the latter for the former. This was simply unacceptable to the Gujarat Cooperative Milk Marketing Federation, which owns brand Amul, the undisputed leader in the Indian ice cream market.
In March, as the summer onslaught began, it launched an ad campaign to get to the bottom of the issue. In a TV commercial, it screamed that their ice creams were made of milk, while frozen desserts included vanaspati (read bad fats).
This chilling detail didn’t go down well with arch rivals
Hindustan Unilever Ltd, maker of the Kwality Wall’s brand of frozen desserts, and homegrown player Vadilal, which together dragged Amul to court. While the jury is still out, it kicked off an ad war among the country’s biggest packaged food firms, much to the delight of media companies.
“There are markets in which, frozen desserts using vegetable fat are sold and no one makes bones about it. If one of the players wants to make the Indian consumer conscious, others have to figure out to communicate better. It’s a competitive market, and consumer decision-making can be won only by merit,” says Devangshu Dutta, chief executive, Third Eyesight, a consulting firm.
Much like soaring temperatures, India’s ice cream and frozen desserts market too is rising high. From Rs 8,500 crore in 2015, it is set to double to Rs 17,000 crore by 2021, registering an 11 per cent CAGR, according to Euromointor.
In 2016, the market grew 20 per cent as players like Amul, HUL, Vadilal and Havmor ramped up operations, introduced new flavours like rum punch, Misssissipi Mud and ventured deeper into smaller towns. The market is highly fragmented with roughly 10,000 players, but the top five have a lion’s share with Amul alone claiming a 42 per cent market share. With 120,000 ice cream stores, it seems unstoppable and plans to double sales in the next five years.
“We’ve only made 100 per cent real milk ice-cream and we believe this is the only way ice-cream should be made,” says Ankit Chona, MD, Havmor Ice Creams, which is now expanding in South India, investing Rs 100 crore and targeting a turnover or Rs 1,000 crore by 2020.
According to Chona, various brands make both ice creams and frozen desserts and hence it was essential that consumers know what they are consuming. “An internal survey revealed that consumer awareness is far lower in distinguishing frozen dessert and ice cream. We will be rolling out a 360-degree campaign to create awareness.”
India is one of the world’s lowest ice cream consuming nations. An Indian, on an average consumes 300 ml of ice cream annually, compared to an American’s 3 litres and a Chinese citizen’s 22 litres. Every summer, ice cream makers hope consumers will indulge more. Summer is also the season sales hit a peak, earning companies roughly over 40 per cent of their annual sales during the 3-4 month window.
Come March, a new range of flavours hit the market loaded with fresh fruits, nuts, Belgain Dark Chocolate, Kesar Malti or even unique bases like paan or matka ice creams. This year Amul bucked the trend choosing to strike hot talking about what matters the most to consumers: health and nutrition.
“The objective of any ad campaign is basically management of consumer perception. Comparative advertising is not new and when there are a few big players involved in neck-to-neck competition, establishing superiority is important. If you are saying that somebody
is trying to manipulate customers against me, then you need to look at your product,” explains Dutta.
Days after it was dragged to court, Amul’s message was stern: Frozen dessert has edible vegetable oil, and is not ice cream. Amul is real milk ice cream. Kwality Walls responded with a series of ads saying frozen desserts were healthier than ice creams as they use skimmed milk and vegetable oil.
Amul and Kwality Walls had locked horns earlier in 2011 on this very issue. Subsequently, the Food Safety and Standards Authority of India decreed that products made with milk fat were to be called ice creams, and those with vegetable oil as frozen desserts.
But, it is difficult to argue which is healthier. As they slug it out, companies hope consumer’s will continue their indulgence nonetheless making their balance sheets even fatter.