Ice cream: get it licked

Londis Broad Haven in Haverfordwest is famous for its soft ice creams. The store is right on the sea front at St Brides Bay, in the heart of the Pembrokeshire Coast National Park, and owner Sue Mock says people drive from miles away to come and sit in their car on the sea front, watching the waves while eating a 99.

Sue uses a Carpigiani machine. “The initial outlay was not cheap, but it does give us excellent profits,” she says. “Once you’ve had the training it’s really easy to use. There are some food safety issues, but as long as you follow the manufacturer’s instructions, there shouldn’t be a problem.”

Carpigiani’s 191 single flavour counter-top machine has a starting price of £5,200 plus VAT, but Scott Duncan, sales director at Carpigiani UK, points to the fact that an ice cream that costs 12p to make can sell for upwards of £1.50. “We can assist operators in creating a bespoke pricing strategy which not only meets their requirements but also fits with what would be expected in their area. With this in mind, profit margins vary depending on a number of aspects, including toppings, portion sizes and type of equipment being used.”

Duncan says that those convenience stores situated in tourist locations often see the biggest sales from soft-serve ice cream but, with the right marketing support and positioning, he reckons soft-serve can have a sizeable impact on the sales of almost any convenience store.

He’s a firm believer in the fact that ice cream sells itself, providing that customers can see it. “A highly visual display helps generate sales as customers will be encouraged to spend more once they see what is on offer. Offering an extensive range of toppings, such as flavoured sauces and syrups, nuts, chocolate and marshmallows, and having ice cream available in cone or tubs, all help entice customers and grow sales.”

Duncan’s views about making ice cream visible are backed up by Unilever research, which has found that by simply letting people know you sell ice cream could increase your sales by up to 15%. “Visibility of the cabinet, brands and products is what drives the sale and, in many cases, is what prompts the decision to buy an ice cream in the first place,” explains Faye Newman, senior category manager for Partners for Growth at Unilever UK.

“Make it clear to people passing your store, as well as shoppers in your store, that you sell ice cream by making use of effective POS material. Don’t hide your ice cream cabinet. Keep yours somewhere near the entrance or the till as this will prompt more shoppers to buy. Not having your cabinet in the impulse hot spot could reduce footfall to the ice cream fixture by up to 75% (SIG data).”

The Carpigiani machine is certainly a big draw at Sue’s store, but it isn’t used all year round; it gets turned on from February half-term and switched off after October half-term. “We still have people coming in disappointed when it’s not on,” says Sue, “but they take a Wall’s ice cream from the freezer instead. Magnum is the best-seller.”

She says these ice creams sell all year round: “Not in the same quantities, obviously, but when it is a nice bright Sunday afternoon and the world comes out for a walk then it flies out. And if it’s a really busy summer’s day we can sell about 25 cases a day - which is just enough to fit in one back-up freezer.”

Keeping up with such fluctuating demand could be tricky, but Sue has it sorted. “Even with our back-up freezer we don’t have enough freezer space to store enough ice cream from one Londis delivery to another, so we use a local supplier, Pembrokeshire Foods, which is prepared to deliver seven days a week.”

Ammo Bhdaal at Spar Auckley in Doncaster has an ice cream back-up plan, too.

“Blakemore is very good in keeping us stocked up. We now have two frozen deliveries a week - on Tuesdays and Thursdays. Before we just had one on Thursdays, which meant if we sold out at the weekend we had to wait.

“We could really do with a back-up freezer, but I will probably end up buying a walk-in freezer as we do a lot of food to go, and we could keep a back-up supply of popular ice creams in there.

“But for now, if we have a heatwave and sell out of ice cream on a Friday we’d nip to the cash and carry to get more lollies for the weekend.” Ammo says that doesn’t happen very often - just once or twice last summer.

Like Sue, Ammo sells ice cream all year round, but his range does change slightly. “Magnum sells all year round so during the winter months we fill the freezer with Magnums and Spar £1 multipacks.

“When the weather’s hot lollies sell really well, but it obviously slows down in the winter so we get rid of the impulse lines. Sales, especially of kiddies’ lollies, are non-existent in the winter so we focus on the Magnums and the family packs instead.

“We have two freezers - one situated at front, near the alcohol, and one further back in the shop. We sell the more adult lines such as Magnum and Häagen-Dazs in the freezer near the alcohol - it’s a good position and works well.”

Ammo says that Häagen-Dazs competes well with Magnum as an adult treat. “I think it’s because of the way these products are marketed - as an evening indulgence for women. But Spar does a good range of evening impulse ice creams, too - women might choose a glass of wine and a small tub of ice cream as a treat.

“The Spar products are very good; they have the look and feel of Häagen-Dazs and are a good cheaper alternative.”

When Convenience Store spoke to Ammo he had been talking to Blakemore about the new ice cream planograms, the new summer impulse lines and what they were advising him to stock.

“We used to have a Wall’s rep visit two or three times a year, but they don’t come any more and I really miss that,” he says. “We’re a bit limited for knowledge about new lines. For instance, I read in the trade press that Lyons Maid is making a comeback, but that’s all I’ve heard.

“Our range is based on what we think will sell. I’d rather receive some expert advice - some guidance on what the manufacturers think will be the best sellers. Luckily, we’re going to the National Convenience Show at the NEC and should be able to find out more there, but after that it would be good to hear from a rep. They could tell us what we should be stocking. They could say everyone is stocking x and it’s really flying out so you should be stocking it, too.”

Regarding Ammo’s interest in Lyons Maid, it seems R&R has expanded its Lyons Maid range specifically for smaller convenience retailers. As such there are cones, splits, choc ices, bricks and tubs, all priced to compete with own brand.

Meanwhile, Ian Miskimmin stocks Wall’s, the Spar brand and local Dale Farm ice cream in his Spar store in Ballyhalbert, County Down. He says there’s a market for all three brands, but his best-seller is Magnum. He adds that he can rely on his Spar supplier Hendersons to keep him stocked even in a heatwave.

A heatwave is obviously the thing that ice cream manufacturers and retailers hope for every summer. According to SIG data, if it’s a hot sunny day ice cream sales can increase by 60%. Sue keeps an eye on the weather via the BBC website so she can be as prepared for the sun as possible.

“The sun is still the biggest motivator for ice cream sales,” points out Andrew Howard, managing director of Beechdean Ice Cream. As for weather data, he says: “You can spend a lot of money on buying in data but it can all go out the window because there’s no rhyme or reason to our weather. We therefore try to hold a sensible amount of stock. We aim to hold six weeks-worth of stock and we never run our facility to capacity so we are able to cope with increases in demand.”

Finally, Unilever’s Newman advises retailers to be prepared, come rain or shine: “While you can’t control the weather, you can make sure that you are in the best place to maximise sales when the sun does come out by planning ahead. Keep up to date with the latest forecast on the Partners for Growth website, or look out for the Twitter communications throughout the season.

“Knowing when good weather is likely to arrive will help you manage your orders, ensuring you’ve sufficient stock in to meet the rise in demand.”