We ate 7 billion TL worth of ice cream

Mehmet Hanifi GULEL The ice cream industry continues its double-digit growth every year. As of 2021, the size of the ice cream market has reached 246 million liters on quantity basis and 6.9 billion TL in turnover. On the basis of turnover, the market growth is 20 percent in 2020, 23 percent in 2021, and the growth continues when the first 5-month figures of 2022 are considered. We can divide the companies operating in the field of ice cream into two. Industrial large-scale production companies and traditional patisserie-style manufacturers. In Turkey, very special ice cream varieties are produced in terms of both raw materials and cooking techniques. With the effect of the pandemic, there has not been a big change in the ice cream market in the last three years on a liter basis. However, while single products suitable for instant consumption were predominant before the pandemic, consumption shifted towards household products during the pandemic. According to the information received from the Packaged Milk and Dairy Products Manufacturers’ Association (ASÜD), annual ice cream consumption per capita in Europe is around 7-8 liters, while in Turkey it is around 4-5 liters. It is seen that ice cream consumption in Northern European countries, where the winter season lasts for months, is 2-3 times that of Turkey. Ice cream is an important potential export item of Turkey and is exported to more than 30 countries. It accounts for 10.6 percent of milk and dairy products exports. In 2021, 20 million kilograms of ice cream exports and 615.8 thousand kilograms of imports were made. The foreign exchange equivalent of exports increased by 29 percent compared to the previous year and reached 55.3 dollars. In the first 6 months of 2022, the increase in exports in the category of ice cream and edible iced products increased by 30 percent and reached 41.3 million dollars. The most exported countries are the USA, Iraq, Israel, Kosovo and India.

World ice cream market is 72 billion dollars

Turkey, which is in the top 20 in the world in terms of ice cream export figures, can be increased even more with actions for export target markets and support from the government. Emphasizing that branding is very important for increasing exports, sector representatives point out that Turkey can get a larger share from the 72 billion dollar world ice cream market.

Home consumption increased during the pandemic

Golf Ice Cream Chairman and CEO Ergün Akkaya, who noted that there have been no major changes on the basis of liters in the last three years, in the ice cream market with the effect of the pandemic, however, while single products suitable for instant consumption were predominant before the pandemic, it shifted towards home-type products due to the fact that people spent more time in their homes during the pandemic. As Golf Ice Cream; We achieved a growth above both the market and the competition, 26 percent in 2020 and 35 percent in 2021. Akkaya stated that the domestic type liter ice cream category achieved a growth above single products during the pandemic period, but when looking at the first 6 months of 2022, single product sales increased by 23% per liter, while the liter product market shrank by 11%. Noting that liter products accounted for 62% of the market in terms of turnover in the first 6 months of 2021, Akkaya said, “Liter products in the first 5 months of 2022 constitute 53% of the total market. In summary, the market has reverted to pre-pandemic consumer behavior. There are four main brands in the packaged ice cream market and Golf is the top two players in terms of market share. As Golf, we also produce private label products of BİM and ŞOK markets”.

Purchasing power decreased, sales decreased

Panda Ice Cream Brand Manager Burçak Cürül Öztürk said that their company produced Turkey’s first packaged ice cream and led the way in the transition to industrial ice cream production, adding that they have been offering brands such as Stix, Sen&Ben, Net, Legend Stix to Turkish ice cream lovers for three generations. Noting that ice cream sales were affected by the change in purchasing power, Öztürk said, “However, the demand for ice cream still continues, especially for the children’s category. Today, especially with the neighboring chocolate/confectionery category, transitional trends have emerged and it has become a product that is produced using different packages by combining it with foodstuffs such as biscuits. This changes the consumption habits and purchasing habits of the consumers in the ice cream industry. This situation still continues at the same level,” he said.

Domestic raw material production is increasing, foreign dependency will decrease

There are also new initiatives for the production of domestic raw materials that thicken ice cream. Explaining that they established their company in 2020 to produce local thickening mixtures for ice creams, Dengemix Founding Manager Meltem Kaptan said, “The ice cream industry is a growing and developing industry every year. We diversified our products after a long R&D process in line with the needs and demands of the ice cream industry. We currently have 15 different products that we have developed for ice creams and sorbets. Apart from these products, we also work with projects and special products in line with the wishes of our customers.