Ulster Grocer

With meteorologists forecasting a good summer this year, retailers should be prepared for bumper sales of ice cream as this is a category where rate of purchase is undeniably affected by the weather, as Patrick Morgan, General Sales Manager for Dale Farm Ice Cream, explained to Kathy Jensen.

“With over 60 per cent of the impulse ice cream market and some of Northern Ireland’s best loved brands, such as Pear Picking Porky, Polly Pineapple, Dale Farm is the brand name on everyone’s lips. Ice cream is a valuable and growing category for manufacturers and retailers, worth over £600mn across the UK,” explained Patrick. “The growth in the market is attributed to a number of factors, including people trading up to more premium lines and an increased level of promotions on multi-packs in the take-home sector.

HIGH VALUE OF IMPULSE

“Reflected by the Dale Farm range, the ice cream market is extremely diverse. Within the impulse sector, you have a plethora of scoop and whipped ice cream, plus bars, sticks and tubs.The take-home market is dominated by tubs and multi-packs. Both markets are of a similar size in terms of value sales, but when it comes to volume, take-home accounts for 88 per cent of total sales The impulse market is an extremely lucrative one for retailers, with just 12 per cent of volume sales commanding around 50 per cent of the overall market value, so stocking the leading brands is key to profitable freezer sales.

OUTPERFORMING THE MARKET

“The Dale Farm range of classics and more recently the new indulgent Rapture products continue to grow well ahead of the market. Children’s classics such as Sukie, Choc Pop and Mr Frostie have been outperforming the market due largely to children being less influenced by weather and the relative price of kids’ products. For example The Dale Farm range of water ices costs on
average 50p, which represents excellent value for money,” said Patrick. Asked about issues impacting on the market, Patrick commented on the effect poor weather can have on impulse sales during the summer. He also pointed to the pressure on space in-store as a factor, with increased competition from other fixtures, such as hot drinks machines, food-to-go and pastry displays, etc, taking away from the amount of room available for traditional fixtures. “Stocking the correct range is therefore critical to the success of the fixture and Dale Farm offer customers a one-stop-shop solution, including freezers tailored to all store formats,” said Patrick.

CONSUMER TRENDS AND EATING OCCASIONS

“Responding to changing consumer needs has been a major area of focus for Dale Farm,” he continued. “The adult impulse market is one that offers attractive returns for retailers and has experienced significant growth over the past few years. The new Rapture range of indulgent ice creams targets this growth area and has been very positively received, expanding to now include traditional stick bars, a multipack of minis and two new cones. “In terms of extending eating occasions, this has been very successfully achieved by the leading confectionery brands. Mars, Nestlé and Cadbury have all successfully made the transition from confectionery to ice cream with the likes of the Mars Ice Cream bar, Rowntree’s Fruit Pastilles lolly and Crunchie Blast. This season’s new introductions include Kit Kat cone and Cadbury’s Fruit & Nut stick bar. Essentially, the development of these well known confectionery brands into the ice cream category is all about extending their consumption occasion and consumer eating experience and has proven very successful for manufacturers and retailers alike,” explained Patrick.

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