75% of adults say they buy ice cream to treat themselves. And it is not for less, ice cream is a product consumed by all people regardless of their gender, social or economic status, fan of sweets or champion of a salad.
But it is also an industry that generates new businesses as an alternative to increase family income. This is what happened with the architect Raquel Parra, who started in 2019 “frozen rd”.
“The business was born from my need not to see my mother bring a portable fridge with more than 100 ice creams to her workplace every day… It is a gastronomic project that revives the family stories that they used to sell ice cream covers in the neighborhoods,” he explained.
The report “Perspective of the Latin American ice cream market” indicates that this market in the region of Latin America it reached a value of US$4,024.3 million in 2021 and an annual growth of 2.8% is expected between the period 2023-2028 to total US$4,754.7 million in 2027.
Ingredients
Although 50% of ice cream consumers think that the high quality of ingredients is more important than calories, in the Dominican business it seeks to give visibility to a product linked to Dominican culture.
The architect indicates that the best-selling flavors are the traditional ones such as sweet potato with coconut, tamarind and raspberry with coconut, with a fixed price of RD$65. Meanwhile, the variety of dulce de leche or chocolate, and alcoholic ones such as baileys, margaritas and mojitos cost RD$175, for a difference of RD$110.
29% of consumers prefer vanilla ice cream, 18.4% chocolate and 12.3% cookie and cream. In smaller quantities, matcha (11%) and strawberry (9.6%).
According to data from the International Dairy Products Association, world ice cream consumption is led by New Zealand with 26.3 liters per inhabitant per year, followed by the United States with 24.5 liters and Australia with 17.8 liters.
Innovation
The total sales of the ice cream industry in the United States stood at US$1,897 million during 2014, establishes Statista. By disaggregating the data, the industrial products totaled 56.9%, registering sales of US$1,080 million. In smaller quantities, ice creams are reported in neighborhood stores with US$686 million, artisanal ones with US$111 million and frozen yogurt with US$20 million.
Among so many ice cream businesses, what is the secret formula to be successful? Allow each user the trip to childhood in each bite, says Parra. “The secret formula is my mother. The business started because of her, with her recipes, her hard work and her confidence in my entrepreneurial vision, ”he adds.
Female entrepreneurship in Latin America stands at 50%, according to data from the World Bank, This rate shows that women find in business creation an opportunity to be financially independent.
Besides, Global Entrepreneurship Monitor establishes that in the region there are 17,217,911 small and medium-sized companies, 50% of which are founded and directed by women.
digitization
What is not exhibited, is not sold, says a popular adage and digital platforms are the ideal mechanism to sell a good or service to the Internet public.
“Social networks give visibility and this is enhanced through advertising, contact with the public and collaborations,” he said.
We Are Social accounts for 5.160 million internet users globally. Of this amount, 4,760 million are on social networks, which shows that digitization allows the future entrepreneur to find a niche that exceeds land barriers.
Finance
According to Parra, knowledge is power. “Even though my income was not fixed I have a list of my financial commitments, I need to see them and be aware of them,” she said.
She expresses that being an entrepreneur means being aware of income and expenses, planning being key to defining a timeline to execute the objectives.
“As a small company, I have the concern of making services or products attractive to the public, so I must carry out exhaustive control of purchase, sale and take into account fiscal commitments,” said Parra.
Given this, Parra advises nascent businesswomen to separate personal finances from business income. “In addition to feeling peace by not feeling that all the commitment is only yours, it will allow you to see the economic situation of the business,” he said.