News

Ice cream sales dipped in July

July is ice cream month, but Americans didn’t eat as much as they did during the height of the coronavirus pandemic. 

Dairy Farmers of Wisconsin say data from market analysts at NPD shows total ice cream and frozen novelties sales dropped 7% compared to 2020 when the start of the pandemic caused sales to surge in grocery stores.  The checkoff group says sales are still 3% better than in 2019 before the pandemic hit.

The analysts say retail ice cream sales have taken a hit as more stores open, but some of these purchases have likely shifted to ice cream shops and other restaurants.

Ice cream sales still peaked in July as Americans bought the equivalent of 784 million pints of ice cream and frozen novelties in the five-week period.  Thirteen million of those pints were sold in Wisconsin but that was an 11% drop from 2020 and a 7% drop from 2019.

Researchers at NPD Group/Crest say frozen sweets servings in total commercial foodservice were up 3% over 2020 through June driven by strong growth in quick-service restaurants.