From soft drinks to ice cream, summer demand rises but may be tempered by fuel shortages, erratic weather
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An early and intense onset of summer is already pushing up demand for beverages, ice creams and other temperature-sensitive products, but companies are entering the season with a degree of caution as volatile weather patterns and fuel-linked disruptions threaten to complicate supply chains and margins.
From fizzy drinks to frozen desserts, consumption trends have picked up sharply over the past few weeks. But executives say the real test this year will be balancing surging demand with rising logistics costs and the risk of supply-side shocks.
Early summer boosts demand across categories
Beverage makers and ice cream companies are seeing a strong start to the season, helped by higher temperatures arriving sooner than usual.
“The arrival of summer this year is accelerating demand and creating a larger opportunity for beverages,” said Sundeep Bajoria, vice president at Coca-Cola India & Southwest Asia. He added that the company, along with its bottling partners, is focusing on expanding visi-cooler networks to ensure wider availability of chilled drinks across retail and on-the-go channels.
Paritosh Ladhani, MD at SLMG Beverages - a Coca-Cola bottling partner, echoed the trend. “The early arrival of summer has provided a significant tailwind to the beverage industry, and we are observing a healthy acceleration in consumer demand across our portfolio,” he said, pointing to recent investments in manufacturing capacity, including a new bottling facility in Buxar, Bihar.
In ice creams and indulgence categories, the uptick is already visible in sales data. Ashish Tendulkar, chief operating officer at Call Me Chunky, said the company has seen an 11% spike in overall demand in early March, with certain products growing over 21%, particularly on quick commerce platforms such as Instamart , Zepto and Blinkit .
Late-night consumption is also emerging as a key trend. Nearly 17% of the daily orders come between 12 AM and 1:30 AM, largely driven by Gen Z consumers and impulse-led behaviour. During peak summer, the company expects a 14% increase in order volumes, with bulk purchases for social occasions adding nearly 19% incremental growth.
At Dairy Day Ice Creams, demand is being driven by a broader shift in consumption patterns. “We are seeing a strong and early uptick in demand for ice cream this summer, building upon the broader shift of ice cream from a seasonal indulgence to an everyday category,” said Arvind Ramachandran, vice president, Marketing. The company has increased its freezer count by around 30% and scaled up quick commerce, which now contributes 6–7% of its business as it exits FY26.
Weather volatility, fuel risks cloud outlook
Even as demand strengthens, companies remain wary of external risks, particularly fuel availability and unpredictable weather.
Swarup Bose, founder and CEO of Celcius Logistics, said, “The only real impact of the West Asia conflict I see right now is if we start running out of fuel. Most transportation in India, whether cold chain or dry logistics, happens via road,” he said. Celcius Logistics is a tech-driven, asset-light cold chain logistics company.
He added that early signs of disruption are already visible. “We are beginning to see fuel shortages emerge in certain states. For now, the situation is still manageable. But if it worsens, it will start reflecting in actual business numbers.”
Rising fuel and input costs are also putting pressure on margins. Saurabh Kasat, CFO and director at Dairy Day Ice Creams, said inflationary pressures linked to polymers and natural gas have increased costs. “To mitigate the impact of rising costs, we will implement calibrated price increases on select SKUs, while continuing to deliver strong value to our consumers,” he said.
Companies, however, have limited room to manoeuvre. “Companies are dealing with perishable goods, so you can’t just store them indefinitely and wait for costs to go down,” Bose said. “Companies will take a calibrated approach; absorbing part of the increased costs while passing some of it on to consumers.”
To top that, weather unpredictability adds another layer of complexity. Last year’s extreme monsoon disrupted supply chains for nearly two to two-and-a-half months, with floods affecting about a third of the country and damaging key transport routes. “A lot of planning went off track,” Bose noted, adding that companies had to scale down production and focus on liquidating inventory.
This year, firms are already building contingencies. Some are considering reducing production by 10–20% in flood-prone regions and preparing alternative logistics routes.
At the same time, companies are adapting to shifting consumption patterns. While early monsoons can soften peak summer demand by 10–15% in the short term, executives say the impact is increasingly temporary. “They don’t reduce overall demand, they simply redistribute it,” said Tendulkar.
For ice cream makers, the category’s structural growth remains intact, with long-term CAGR holding steady at 14–15%. Dairy Day, for instance, has reported a three-year CAGR of around 30%, well ahead of the market.