By Sagar Malviya
Copyright indiatimes
Mumbai: Unilever is hoping to ride the focus of its demerged ice-cream business to disrupt India’s cultural obsession with mithai this Diwali. Laddoos, kaju katlis and barfis-Unilever wants to break the mithai monopoly this Diwali with their frozen desserts, usually considered a summer treat. For centuries, Diwali has been dominated by traditional sweets, but the maker of Kwality Wall’s, Magnum, and Cornetto is taking a cue from its global playbook on building seasonal consumption for its ice-cream business.”Ramadan was not to be an ice-cream moment 15 years ago. Now it is in all the Muslim countries-an ice-cream peak period. Indians have a sweet tooth. Ice-cream is hardly available,” said Peter ter Kulve, CEO, Magnum Ice Cream Company, Unilever’s recently demerged business. “Ramadan is an ice-cream moment, Christmas is an ice-cream moment, Fourth of July is an ice-cream moment, Easter is an ice-cream moment-but Diwali in India is not an ice cream moment,” he said during investor meet.Unilever is the world’s biggest ice-cream maker with brands such as Ben & Jerry’s but trails dairy cooperative, Amul, which is by far the market leader in the $5-billion category in India. Traditional Indian sweets are embedded in Diwali rituals-exchanged among families and offered to deities, while ice-cream is seen as a western indulgence or a summer treat. Unlike several developed markets where consumer products are sold by large supermarkets, India’s ice-cream distribution relies heavily on small neighbourhood stores, many of which require freezers and special infrastructure.Over past decade, confectioners including Mondelez and Ferrero have been pushing chocolates during the festive season, moving the category beyond kids. Unilever said it could replicate the model followed by Mondelez, which has installed chillers across thousands of stores to increase chocolate sales during the festival period.Live Events”We say how can we unlock Diwali in India for ice cream? Do we need special products? Do we do promotions with retailers? Do we have a special Diwali festival of light ad? And you build that over time, and you create an ice-cream moment,” said Kulve. Unilever’s ice-cream business demerger, announced this year, was aimed to help Unilever’s underperforming division the freedom to sharpen focus, move faster in local markets, and compete aggressively- in high-growth regions like India.For the global consumer giant, India accounts for over 14% of its sales but the country gets the bulk of its revenues selling soaps, laundry and shampoos.Its local unit Hindustan Unilever (HUL) has announced demerging its ice-cream division into a separate listed company by the end of FY26.Add as a Reliable and Trusted News Source Add Now!
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(You can now subscribe to our Economic Times WhatsApp channel)Read More News onmagnumhindustan unileverUnilever ice cream Diwalifestive season dessertsKwality Wall’straditional Indian sweetsMagnum Ice Creamsweets vs ice creamHindustan UnileverDiwali celebrations(Catch all the Business News, Breaking News, Budget 2025 Events and Latest News Updates on The Economic Times.) Subscribe to The Economic Times Prime and read the ET ePaper online….moreless
