Inside the raging battle for Pakistani ice cream

Who, really, is the emperor of ice cream? Those who might have encountered the elliptical Wallace Stevens poem might have been stumped by the significance of the titular figure.

But, in the Pakistani market it turns out, it was a much simpler equation. Here, it was, more or less, a case of ‘spot the odd one out’. And a recent decision by the Competition Appellate Tribunal has squarely confirmed this.

Only a few days ago the Tribunal upheld a December 2024 decision by the Competition Commission of Pakistan, which had decided that the two major players in the ice cream and frozen desserts market – namely Unilever and FrieslandCampina Engro had been falsely marketing their products as “ice cream,” while, in fact, they were “frozen desserts”. The Commission fined the corporations Rs 7.5 crore each, with Unilever being slapped with an added Rs 2 crore for a related violation.

These two corporations had taken this verdict up to the Competition Appellate Tribunal, which has now agreed with the findings of the Competition Commission. However, exercising their discretion, they have reduced the fines due to “mitigating circumstances”. The Rs 7.5 crore figure has been reduced to Rs 1.5 crore for each, while the Rs 2 crore sum has been cut down to Rs 50 lakh.

Whatever these reduced sums might mean, the story behind these fines is more interesting. It was a battle fought between giants. Unilever Pakistan, the biggest ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturer in Pakistan, was one. FrieslandCampina Engro Pakistan, the second biggest player in the market, was another. Together, in 2023, they accounted for over 60 percent of the market. Taking these two on was the comparatively modest Pakistan Fruit Juice Company, which had commanded a mere 2 percent share in that year.

The stakes couldn’t be higher: who, in fact, could claim to be producing “ice cream,” let alone claim to be the leading Pakistani player to be doing so.