2024-07-04 16:29:37
Rocket Ice Cream Factory Reduces Production – Bad Weather Leads to Business Losses
Down 30-40%: Ice cream maker Froneri furloughed staff early, while garden centres and potato growers complained regarding a historically bad June.
Hard to use without sunshine: So far this summer, demand for rocket ice cream has been low.
Photo: Regina Kühne (Keystone)
April was fine, but suddenly it started to rain heavily. June was particularly wet. For companies that generate sales mainly in the first two quarters, 2024 is now over. What they have not sold so far will remain until next year. Others are hoping for a dry summer in the second half of the year. Select products in question.
Smoothies
An empty merry-go-round on a playground: Summer business is not going well for some companies.
Photo: Peter Klaunzer (Keystone)
Many people eat ice cream in the pool or when out with friends. Swiss ice cream producers, including companies such as Froneri, Lusso, Gasparini and Emmi, were happy with a good start in April. Then sales fell. “However, there are no concrete figures,” said Reto Lüchinger, chairman of Glacesuisse, an association representing producers.
Reto Lüchinger, owner of Froneri Switzerland in Goldach SG, which produces Rocket ice cream or Mövenpick Kübeli, said sales in June were at least 30 to 40 percent lower than last year. He can only remember one June that was just as bad: the one during the coronavirus pandemic.
In order not to overfill the cold storage and to avoid having to throw away ice cream, he has now reduced production. Instead of just one week off, Lüchinger is giving production employees two weeks off.
But a bad June hasn’t put his company in trouble. “Ice cream production is a volatile business, and a lot depends on whether the sun shines. That’s what makes our lives exciting.”
strawberry
Many strawberries grow weather-independently—bad weather won’t hurt them.
Photo: Gaëtan Bally (Keystone)
Farmers who grow strawberries in open fields are in a difficult situation due to the humid conditions. If the fruits are wet, they cannot be harvested and their shelf life is significantly shortened. They also rot quickly on the bushes and diseases spread. Producers have to spend more time on harvesting, field hygiene and berry sorting.
You can buy strawberries in supermarkets, as most of them are grown without being affected by the weather. But the price is much smaller.
Some 5,150 tonnes have been harvested so far this season, compared with 7,729 tonnes last year. According to the Swiss Fruit Association, the Swiss strawberry season lasts until September.
Potato
“In my 16 years as president, I have never experienced anything like this,” said Ruedi Fischer, head of the Swiss Potato Producers Association (VSKP) and a potato grower in Bad Kingden, Belgium.
Due to the abundant rain, tuber growth is rapid and uneven, plants have only short roots and, worst of all, late blight is spreading “explosively”. The situation has stabilized somewhat in the past few days. “But we have to spray additional fungicides,” Fisher said.
Organic farming is particularly affected. “The harvest will be smaller in the autumn.” To prevent a shortage of potato chips, the VSKP has applied for an initial additional import quota of 15,000 tonnes of processed potatoes.
Building, DIY and Gardening Stores
New deckchairs? Maybe next year: When it rains, the desire to buy balcony furniture and plants decreases.
Photo: Jonathan Rabusch
Garden centres and self-service shops are disillusioned. At first, the warm weather in April encouraged many people to upgrade their gardens and terraces – and there was a surge in numbers. Then came the damper. “Our stores had very little foot traffic in June,” says Erwin Meier-Honegger, co-owner of Ernst Meier AG, which runs a large garden centre in Dillenten, ZH. This month is crucial: If people haven’t bought any plants, new garden chairs or parasols by then, they won’t do so until next year at the earliest. “Many customers have already given up on the gardening year 2024,” Meier-Honegger suspects.
At Landi stores, which belong to the Fenaco group, June in particular took its toll. “Sales were slightly below last year’s level,” said Fenaco spokeswoman Silja Stofer.
The seasonal opening of Jumbo, a DIY chain owned by the Coop Group, has been delayed. Sales were roughly in line with previous years. “A lot of stuff was bought,” a spokesman wrote. For big-ticket purchases like casual furniture, grills or bicycles, the weather had a slightly smaller impact.
Sales fluctuations caused by weather are part of the problem. But for some construction, home improvement and gardening stores, problems are growing.
In recent years, there were delivery bottlenecks, then a boom and finally consumer constraints due to saturation and inflation. After the pandemic, for example, Chinese manufacturers brought goods back much faster, but not all of them might be sold. “Some retailers had hoped for a normal year, but they are disappointed so far,” said Nordal Cavadini, a retail expert at consultancy Alixpartners. “If there are problems for many years in a row, at some point it becomes existential for the exposed, usually smaller companies.”
For consumers, this means that they may benefit from cheaper prices in the short term, but in the long run they will pay more if the company disappears and prices rise due to reduced competition.
bier
When it comes to beer consumption, the weather trumps the excitement of football: fans in Winterthur’s Old Town.
Photo: Francisco Carrascosa
The Feldschlösschen brewery is deeply affected by the weather. “The fact is that warm weather promotes a desire for fresh beer; and in the first half of the year, such moments are usually too few and far between,” wrote spokesman Esin Celiksüngü. The European football championship does not offer a solution either. Electromagnetic effects cannot compensate for the current bad weather conditions.
The Locher brewery also sold less Appenzell beer in the first half of the year, but Ernst Wanner, head of marketing, explained that sales “fortunately only weakened slightly”. He now hopes that the weather will be good and that the impact of the European Cup will remain small. For this, the Swiss national team must travel as far as possible.
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