Ice cream distribution strategy: “We go directly to the consumers”

In distributing their product, the makers of Fruits in Ice Cream (FIC), a premium ice cream brand in the country,  didn’t go to supermarkets but rather went directly to the consumers.

“Since ours is a perishable product, we developed a cold chain that ensured that the ice cream reached our consumers at a quality at which ice cream is intended to be consumed.  We simply couldn’t afford to sell in most supermarkets where it would take hours to unload, count, and display our products,” explains Osang Custodio, partner in charge of R & D.

With quality as their primary thrust, FIC knew that the most effective way to market and distribute their ice cream was to go directly to the consumer in their homes and hangouts.

“Most of our initial sales came through home distributors who were really passionate about our product,” adds Jose Celdran, partner in charge of Business Development.

This more unconventional strategy worked as their distributors, being community leaders, had more credibility.  They were able to engage their customer in a rapport that was personal.  “When they recommend our products, people really listened.”

With free taste as their bait, the company also started selling through scooping stations in malls, the favorite destination of urban Filipinos.

The strategy resulted in a major fringe benefit.  As each of the company’s partners-managers also invested in their own scooping stations, they were able to get priceless feedback first hand.  “It was a great closed-loop quality control system that was cheap, honest, and fast.”

It is also the policy of going directly to consumers that led to a recent innovation in Fruits and Ice Cream selling:  a  mobile ice cream store concept called the FIC Ice Cream Machine.  These are ice cream vans being deployed to school fairs and catering to private parties.

Adapted from:  “A Decade of Sweet Success” by Hans Villarica, SME Insight, May-June 2007.

Photo from:  The FIC Facebook page.