Heatwave ignites triple-digit demand spike across ice cream, beverages and AC categories

Mother Dairy, Lotte, Varun Beverages, Haier and LG report sharp sales rebound as India's heatwave drives 30%+ seasonal demand. Quick commerce doubles ice cream volumes in 10 days; Tropicana PET grows over 100%, dairy 60-70%, Haier ACs 35% this month.

— Filed Sun, 24 May, 2026, 15:17 IST · Source The Hindu BusinessLine · Updated

Heatwave is driving sharp demand rebound across ice cream, beverage and AC categories in India, with Mother Dairy, Lotte, Haier, LG and Varun Beverages reporting double-digit to triple-digit growth, led significantly by quick commerce platforms.

Why this matters

Heatwave-led volume surge follows Mother Dairy's May 14 milk price hike of Rs 2/litre in Delhi-NCR, pairing pricing power with seasonal demand tailwinds across dairy and ice cream.

Retail-brand activity steady at 550 signals in the last 90 days.

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