Own business: Ice production

Food industry Soft drinks

Despite the apparent simplicity and affordability that attracts investors, ice-making is a capital-intensive business. Initial investments exceed the level of 300 thousand dollars. Complicating the situation is the certification required for this food product, as well as the seasonality factor of the ice business.

To organize the production of ice, a lot is needed - ice generators, a room, special vehicles to deliver the finished product, freezers. Moreover, domestic generators, which are significantly cheaper than imported ones, lose last in performance. Their capacity is designed for a maximum of 20 kg per day, which is absolutely not suitable for mass sales.

Moreover, experienced entrepreneurs are also not advised to save even at first on freezers and special vehicles. The temperature of the ice produced by the ice makers is about zero, and to turn it into a product you can’t do without freezers. Shipping ice in thermos boxes in ordinary cars is also a risky business. In the summer heat, such amateur technology does not save: the ice begins to thaw and stick together. Therefore, special transport is also a production necessity.

The next problem is the problem of marketing products. There are two strategic directions for the development of sales — selling ice in stores and delivering it to bars, restaurants, and clubs. Entrepreneurs with experience advise to focus on the second direction, it is the most promising. Bars and restaurants can not do without ice, and in hot weather, even their own ice is not enough. Imported generators, which are equipped with large catering establishments in the summer season, cannot cope with production, they are not designed to work in such a climate. Therefore, restaurants and bars buy ice from producers with a bang.

Edible ice production is a capital intensive business. Today, for the start you need to lay out from 300 to 500 thousand dollars. And it pays off for a long time - from 5 to 7 years.

Like ice cream, food ice is a seasonal item. In the high season, manufacturers sell up to 60% of all products, the remaining 40% are distributed fairly evenly. Only two quarters are profitable in this business - the second and third, and the fourth is being “tightened” due to the New Year holidays.

In order to ensure year-round profitability and create an additional source of income, you can take up a promising direction today - the production and sale of ice sculptures, as well as the manufacture of ice sculptures for individual orders. To do this, you need to buy molds for pouring sculptures. You can start with small forms - elegant glasses for vodka and absinthe, trays for seafood, you can "freeze" corporate logos and anniversary numbers. This is a fairly profitable occupation. One ice of a meter height costs customers an average of $ 100-150.

Well, then you can proceed to large forms - palaces, slides, huts and houses. But for ice construction it is necessary to purchase a special installation that can prepare ice blocks measuring 25x50x100 cm and weighing up to 150 kg. It is from such blocks that sculptors work wonders to order.

Prices for such sculptures are not cheap. For example, an ice slide for children can cost from two to two and a half thousand dollars. The main demand for ice sculptors is in Moscow, where there are enough originals with big money. But in the regions such blocks are sold well. Demand for ice palaces exists in Irkutsk, Omsk, Nizhny Tagil, Arkhangelsk, Minsk, Kiev and Alma-Ata. But the main thing is that additional business can reduce dependence on seasonality of demand, because ice sculptures are bought mainly in winter.

Yakovleva Natalya

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* The article is more than 8 years old. May contain outdated data


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