Summer is coming and we all know what that means: it’s time to stock up on ice cream and frozen yogurt supplies. Not that people actually wait for summer to begin consuming ice cream. Americans eat ice cream all year, on a weekly basis. But summer is the time to splurge, on ice cream, gelato, frozen yogurt, frozen drinks and other delicious, frozen, sweet treats.
So make sure you have enough ice cream and frozen yogurt in stock, as well as cups, spoons, and lids in a variety of sizes, shapes and colors, and you’ll be all set for summer.
The enduring popularity of frozen desserts
They’re sweet, cold and delicious. The reasons for the popularity of frozen desserts are not difficult to find. Almost all, or 90% of all American household regularly treat themselves to a sweet frozen dessert. To meet this demand, manufacturers in the U.S. produce 1.5 billion gallons of ice cream and similar desserts each year. It takes around 9% of all the milk produced by dairy farms in the country, just to produce ice cream.
By the end of 2013, the number of frozen yogurt stores across the country was estimated to be 2,582. Gelato and frozen drinks round out the list of favorite frozen sweets. Here’s a brief rundown on the most popular frozen desserts.
And the winner is…ice-cream
Not that there was any doubt at all about the outcome of this particular contest. Ice-cream and specially vanilla ice cream is a all-time favorite. The average American is expected to eat ice cream 28.5 times each year, and in any two-week period, researchers from the NPD Group found that 40% out of all Americans will eat ice cream. According to the International Ice Cream Association, member companies reported that the most popular flavor with customers was vanilla, with 28% picking the simple classic taste.
Frozen yogurt is the healthy dessert
Frozen yogurt is often billed as the competition to ice cream but with its low-fat appeal to the health conscious and a tart taste, it occupies a niche of its own. Frozen yogurt first surged in popularity in the 1980s, lost some ground to low-fat ice cream for a while, and came roaring back as a favorite of health conscious millennials with a taste for odd flavors.
Frozen yogurt supplies can be simple and classic – bowls and cups in various sizes to accommodate two scoops or more; spoons and lids.
Gelato has a richer taste
Another popular favorite among frozen desserts is gelato. Gelato is simply the Italian word for ice cream. In American usage, it stands for ice cream made in the Italian style. Favored for its variety of colors and richer taste, after the mixing process gelato contains about 25 to 30% air. This gives it a denser taste than ice cream, and flavor that lasts longer on the tongue. Gelato contains between 3 and 8% milkfat.
Statistics show that the most ice cream is produced in June. Summer’s almost here. Are you ready with your ice cream and frozen yogurt supplies? It’s going to be a busy time.