It’s been a sweltering summer all across the country. Tough to take for many, but great for the ice cream industry, from dairies to manufacturers, supermarkets, chains like Baskin Robbins, mom-n-pops, even those small trucks circling the neighborhood and driving everyone batty by blasting some repetitive, mind-numbing, instrumental jingle over and over and over.
Beyond the weather, the price of ice cream has actually been dropping, even as food prices overall continue to rise. A half-gallon of ice cream has dropped below six dollars—thanks to a slide in butterfat prices, which fell almost nine percent compared to the previous year. With food prices up, consumers these days see ice cream as an affordable “micro-indulgence,” part of what’s been called a “little treat” economic trend. Annual revenues from ice cream and frozen novelties now total more than 7.5 billion dollars.
Which flavors do consumers love the most? No big surprise at the top of the list. According to a recent report from the Instacart shopping platform, the most purchased flavor in America remains Vanilla, 21% of all orders. Chocolate came in second at 7.9%. But number three may surprise you. It’s cookie dough at 6.9%. The rest of the top ten: cookies & cream (5.8%), chocolate fudge/brownie (5.1%), peanut butter (4.7%), mint chocolate chip (4.7%), coffee (4.5%), strawberry (3.7%), and cherry (3.1%).
Some flavors not in the top ten showed major growth spurts— pineapple coconut was up 37%, pistachio rose 25%, and green tea was up 24%. And each region of the county has its own preferences—rocky road in the west, coffee in New England, butter pecan in the south, moose tracks in Wisconsin, cheesecake in Tennessee.
The most popular brands at the supermarket? Häagen-Dazs is number one, closely followed by Ben & Jerry’s. Breyers comes in at number three. The rest of the top ten: Tillamook, Halo Top, Turkey Hill, Blue Bell, Edy’s/Dreyer’s, Blue Bunny, and Friendly’s.
And sales of some brands exploded last year, especially premium and “better-for you” offerings. Alec’s Ice Cream, touting clean ingredients and prebiotics was up 50%; Rebel, marketed as low carb, high fat, keto, no sugar added, was up 39%; Strauss Family Creamery, a super-premium organic brand, was up 38%; Van Leeuwen was up 37%; and Graeter’s jumped 31%. Micro-indulgence for sure.
In Hopkins, Minnesota, A to Z Creamery, born as a side hustle during the pandemic in Zach Vraa’s kitchen, has become as huge success, churning out a new flavor every week at fourteen dollars a pint. And once a year, a whole lot more. “Every year for our anniversary, we create a $100 pint because it represents what this company was built on: pushing the boundaries of what ice cream can be,” Vraa says.
This year it’s Jeaunaux-Robin NV Éclats de Meulière Extra Brut Champagne ice cream with gold leaf house made sourdough croutons, fig compote, lemon crème fraiche, and sturgeon caviar. Vraa says, “It’s our chance to showcase incredible ingredients, creativity, and craftsmanship in a way that’s completely unique. To me, it shows that people still value unique experiences and are willing to splurge on something memorable that brings them joy.”
On the next Culinary Characters Unlocked podcast dropping tomorrow, chef Star Maye, who went from a small Alabama town to the US Navy, to prison, to huge culinary success that included winning the TV food competition show Chopped. Wherever you get your podcasts:
YOUTUBE
https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCT4Zovt2BsSuh98FvyEwcFA
APPLE PODCASTS
SPOTIFY
AMAZON MUSIC
https://music.amazon.com/podcasts/28353fc5-11df-4a3e-8481-f989eb4aeaab/culinary-characters-unlocked
PODBEAN
https://www.podbean.com/podcast-detail/k2n6g-31b0b8/Culinary-Characters-Unlocked-Podcast
Eat well,
David
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