Ice Cream Industry Aust

Essay by PaperNerd ContributorUniversity, Master's September 2001

download word file, 16 pages 3.0

1. EXECUTIVE SUMMARY The following report is mainly based on the ice cream industry's manufacturing output and refers to ice cream mixes, soft serve mixes and ice confection, produced and sold to the domestic and export market.

The industry is generally growing slower than the economy so its life cycle is in a decline phase, but has been stable for the past 5 years and is forecast to grow inline with the economy. Over the past 5 years there has been considerable development in new products more so towards the premium end of the market, but generic branded products still are the largest sellers within the grocery industry. The key industries that purchase the output of ice cream are Supermarkets, Food service, Route Trade and Export.

The top 5 manufacturing companies are estimated to hold approx 40 to 55 percent of the market share. The number of establishments in the industry increased from 40 to 95 within the last 5 years, which comprises of relatively small number of large producers and a large number of small producers.

Competition is intense and increasing due to competition between ice cream and the dessert market. Also imports are a threat to the industry, which prominently come from New Zealand.

Seasonal conditions strongly influence the industry, unseasonable conditions during the warmer months and drought can have effect on consumer demand and costs. Producers manufacture the majority of their product through the cooler months in readiness for demand in the warmer months.

A full analysis of the industry is detailed in various parts of this report.

2. HISTORY In the late 1980s the ice cream industry decreased by an average of 1.6 percent per annum. Ice cream manufacturers started to look at different ice cream products to raise revenue in the face of declining sales,