How To Throw Away 26 Tonnes Of Ice Cream?

Lockdown forces Naturals to turn their stocks into gas for disposal

- Mukesh Adhikary

Girish Pai and Hemant Naik of Naturals Ice Cream were left with 26 tonnes of ice cream in over 45,000 small boxes lying in cold storage when the Maharashtra government announced a state-wide lockdown on March 19.

We don't have a policy of rework if the stock expires. Being a dairy product we can't do anything about it. The only option was to throw away the ice cream,” said Hemant Naik, vice president, supply chain & strategy, Naturals Ice Creams.

We did not expect Maharashtra to announce the lockdown before the Centre. It was too sudden, he added.

Naturals and other fresh fruit ice cream makers like Baskin Robins have a shorter shelf life (15 days) than regular long-life ice creams (90-180 days).

While their first idea was to reach out to the poor, the lack of clarity of vehicular movement in the first phase of the lockdown ruled out that option for them.