Spain's bars run out of ice cubes
31 August, 2022The reduced stockpiling of ice cubes by the Spanish ice industry in the spring due to cost increases and heatwaves has pushed demand above normal levels, resulting in a shortage of ice in the middle of summer. However, hotels and restaurants are less affected because in many cases they have their own ice-making machines.
This was explained by the managing director of Procubitos Europe, Fernando Plazas, the largest producer of ice cubes in Spain, with 22% of the national capacity, who stated that the worst is yet to come and that the whole of August "is going to be a disaster" in terms of the lack of supply.
It is a "perfect storm", in his words, which started last April and May, when the industry began to stockpile ice cubes in order to be able to meet the demand in the peak summer months of July and August.
For each pallet that is brought into the cold stores that serve as a warehouse, it costs 3 euros, plus another 3 euros to transport it out, and another 50 cents for each day of storage in the meantime.
This situation was further aggravated by the fact that with the arrival of spring "leisure activity shot up with fairs, street parties, and the hotel and catering trade in general", and that May came with a heatwave that generated an even greater surge in demand, which further limited storage capacity, Plazas continued.
"Unfortunately, it looks like there is going to be a heat wave throughout August and I don't think it will calm down until the first week of September," said the manager of Procubitos.