An ice cream company located in a country that’s usually covered in below-zero temperatures couldn’t be thriving these days. Right?

The Inmarko ice cream company is located in Novosibirsk, the unofficial capital of Siberia. In this town, there are over 300 kiosks and stores selling ice cream, most of which are solely supplied by Inmarko.

How can the biggest ice cream manufacturer in Russia — one of the coldest countries in the world — still see a 2.5% increase in market share this year alone? It comes down to pricing. Because of the cold, cheap ice cream is the only treat many of the city’s citizens are able to afford. As the economic crisis became worse, Inmarko geared up its production and now has more distribution chains than ever.

Also helping the company is that Novosibirsk doesn’t have any of the natural resources — oil, gas, metals, etc. — the rest of Russia relies upon. Because of that, the city thrives on small- to mid-sized businesses with creative ideas.

The crisis has been so good to the company that it’s been able to experiment with new flavors, including fish ice cream, black pepper ice cream and a treat called “the Vampire,” which is on a sharpened stake of wood instead of a regular popsicle stick.

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Tags: Distribution, Gas, Ice cream, Oil, Vampire