Status: 08/08/2022 2:44 p.m
Spain is experiencing an “ice cube emergency”: Some places are already being rationed, and prices have increased sixfold in some cases. Manufacturers report crying customers on the phone.
In Spain, ice cubes are currently scarce not only on well-known holiday islands such as Mallorca or Ibiza, but throughout the country. As a result, ice cube prices have increased sixfold in some cases. Distributors report the problems began in the second half of July. Instead of seven trucks a day, you currently only get one, complained about a company from Madrid.
Some supermarkets are rationing
Because ice cubes are currently always sold out in supermarkets in Madrid and Barcelona, for example, some large chains are now restricting the number of bags that can be handed out to each customer. At “Mercadona” customers are only allowed to buy a maximum of five bags – at “Consum” two. In Malaga, some shops have put up signs saying “no ice cubes”.
Many ice cube manufacturers only supply selected regular customers. Mateo Obrador, a partner at distribution company JOP, told a Spanish newspaper: “If we had to sell to everyone, the ice cream would last for an hour.”
A man in Cordoba cools off at a fountain.
Image: EPA
With underproduction comes the heat
There are several reasons for the ice cube shortage: One of them is that many ice cube manufacturers did not pre-produce as many ice cubes as usual in winter due to the high energy prices. Two million ice cubes are currently produced every day. According to one manufacturer, this is a relatively normal value per day. The problem, however, is that, even in spring, two million ice cubes are normally produced every day and stored for the summer. The daily production is therefore not enough to cover the demand.
In addition, demand is currently extremely high due to the high temperatures: According to industry information, demand has climbed from four to eight million kilos per day. According to its own statement, a large ice cube manufacturer from Andalusia just manages to satisfy 70 percent of the demand.
“The worst is yet to come”
The entrepreneur Miguel Ángel Vázquez Gavira is called the “king of the ice cube” in Spain because his company has a share of over 20 percent in the domestic market and is also active in other European countries. In an interview with the Spanish newspaper “El Mundo” he says:
Every day I get calls from entrepreneurs crying begging me for ice cream.
He’s never experienced that. And the worst is yet to come, explains Gavira. He warns: “The next few weeks will be dramatic”.
Small companies in particular have problems
The situation is already particularly difficult in smaller factories. In view of the rising material and energy prices in the spring, many of them did not want to store any product that they did not know whether they would be able to sell at all in the summer due to the uncertainty associated with the corona pandemic.
For example, some companies only produced at night during winter to reduce production costs. Now they cannot easily restore the production rhythm. And this despite the fact that the machines are running around the clock.
In June it was already hot in Spain with temperatures up to 38 degrees Celsius. In July it got even warmer due to a heat wave. This woman in Palma de Mallorca tries to cool down with a fan.
Image: dpa
Canaries want to deliver ice cubes to the mainland
Since August is supposed to be very hot over long stretches, it is quite possible that ice cubes will remain in short supply well into September. The Canary Islands have now announced that they want to send 15,000 bags of ice cubes to mainland Spain every day in order to at least ease the situation somewhat.