Top Gel makes 95% of sales to small stores

Top Gel, a top three domestic ice-cream producer, this year counts on turnover worth around 15m euros, with 95% coming from sales in small stores of traditional retail. "The upbeat scenario for us in 2010 is flat turnover from last year, when we registered sales of 62m RON (14.6m euros). In the hot days of June we worked at full capacity, but the market needs temperatures of above 27 degrees for at least 30-40 days to offset the consumption declines of April-May," stated Adriean Asan, general manager of Top Gel. He also sees a maximum increase of 5-10% in sales this year from 2009 should the weather be favourable for ice-cream consumption. The producer, which owns a plant in Cârcea locality (near Craiova) it launched in 2007, has this year entered retailers' private label system through a partnership with an international store network. Asan chose not to disclose the name of the retailer, but specified Top Gel would further focus on sales in small stores, which at market level account for 80-85% in turnover generated by an ice-cream producer,