Ice cream sees small declines, but ice milk/frozen dairy picks up the slack

Ice cream sales saw a small decline for the 52-week period ending Nov. 2, but ice milk/frozen dairy desserts are really roaring to life, according to data from Chicago-based research firm Circana. Sherbet/sorbet/ices are also seeing sales increase on a year over year (YoY) basis.

Let’s start with the large ice cream category. Dollar sales came in at $7.5 billion, a slight 1% YoY decline, while unit sales suffered a deeper 3% dip to 1.55 billion. Leading the way in dollar sales is private label, which eked out a 1% YoY gain to $1.6 billion for the period ending Nov. 2, but unit sales dropped by 1% YoY to 411 million, Circana data reveals.

Among the top 10 ice cream sellers, two companies posted YoY dollar gains of 5% or more: Ben & Jerry’s and Tillamook County Creamery. South Burlington, Vt.-based Ben & Jerry’s, a unit of The Magnum Ice Cream Co., saw dollar sales rise 5.5% YoY to $1.1 billion. Unit sales increased a nearly identical 5.3% to just shy of 200 million, good enough to be the No. 3 seller in the category.

Tillamook’s dollar sales jumped 9% YoY to $434 million — which placed the Oregon-based seller as the No. 5 seller in the category — pairing with a 2% YoY increase in unit sales to 76 million.

The biggest story in the ice cream category (look for the separate frozen novelties Market Trends report in March) was easily ice milk/frozen dairy desserts. The subcategory’s dollar sales skyrocketed by 29% YoY to $652 million, while unit sales rose by an even more impressive one third (33%) YoY to 154 million. The No. 1 seller in this subcategory, Unilever’s Good Humor brand, had a really good year (see above chart). Dollar sales advanced by 32% YoY to just shy of $280 million, as well as a 36% YoY unit sales rise to 62 million, Circana reports.

Under the top 10 sellers in the ice milk/frozen dairy desserts subcategory, two companies enjoyed triple-digit YoY gains, and one joined the elusive quadruple-digit YoY dollar sales gainer “club.” The quadruple-digit gainer belongs to No. 10 seller, New York City-based Magnolia Bakery, whose dollar sales jumped by 5,618% YoY to $353,619, paired nicely with a 5,567% YoY unit sales increase to 31,691. Triple-digit YoY gainers were Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream and Binggrae Co. Ltd. Oakland, Calif.-based Dreyer’s dollar sales advanced 103% YoY to $106 million, with unit sales picking up 91% YoY to 24 million, good enough to be the No. 3 seller in the subcategory. Seoul, South Korea-based Binggrae saw dollar sales rocket higher by 861% YoY to $809,769, along with a unit sales jump of 842% to 134,350, placing it as the No. 8 seller in the subcategory, per Circana data.

Sherbet/sorbet/ices also saw growth for the 52-week period ending Nov. 2. The subcategory’s dollar sales gained 7% YoY to $295 million, while unit sales climbed 6% YoY to 68 million. Private label also led the way in this subcategory, as sales picked up 4% YoY to $91 million, along with a 5% unit sales rise to 25 million. Dreyer’s continues to exceed growth expectations, as dollar sales zoomed higher by 60% YoY to $23 million. Dreyer’s unit sales rose 55% YoY to 4.8 million, placing the company as the No. 3 seller in the subcategory.

However, frozen yogurt/tofu had a difficult year. Overall, the subcategory’s dollar sales dropped by 5% YoY to $301 million. Unit sales did have a better fate, as they dipped by a smaller 3% to just shy of 70 million. Not everything was bleak in the subcategory. Topping the frozen yogurt/tofu subcategory in terms of dollar sales for the year ending Nov. 2 was Ben & Jerry’s, which bucked the trend by seeing both dollar sales and unit sales rise by 3% to $84 million and 17 million, respectively.

Additionally, Ben & Jerry’s was the only one of the top 10 sellers in this subcategory to post YoY gains with one exception: Athens, Tenn.-based Mayfield Dairy Farms, which eked out a 0.3% increase in dollar sales to $2.8 million, paired with a 1% rise in unit sales to 596,122 for the 52 weeks ending Nov. 2, according to Circana data. DF