Icecream Snapshot
Ice Cream Parlor
Prepared by Sarah Barrette
SBDCNet San Antonio 11/30/04
SIC Code(s) Covered: 5812 NAICS Code(s) Covered: 722213
I scream, you scream, we all scream for ice cream. Doesn’t that bring back good
memories of your childhood and those hot summer days? That well-known tradition
continues, according to the figures from the International Ice Cream Association reveals
90% of United States households consume ice cream and over 1.4 billion gallons were
produced in 2003. Calculate that out and it translates to 20 quarts of ice cream per
person. Just imagine all the ice cream headaches! But, you cannot let that fool you into
thinking the industry is growing. The ice cream industry has reached a mature stage.
Growth in the market comes from dollar sales rather than volume sales. Consumers are
not eating more ice cream, but they are spending more to get it due to price increases for
key ingredients.
Industry Trends
Demographics
Currently, children drive the ice cream industry in a large part. According to the
U.S. Census Bureau is estimating that the youth populations in the next seven years will
be declining, thus, forcing ice cream manufacturers to develop new products that are
attractive to the growing adult population. Households with children are the lead
consumers of ice cream with 34% of total consumption. This is compared to the 20% of
household consumption without children.
The preferences of consumers vary according to age and gender. Consumer
research has shown that children and African-American households eat more types of ice
cream products and also consume more servings during a 30-day period. As the children
enter their teenage years, they began to vary in their consumption. Teen girls start to
begin to eat healthier and opt for the frozen yogurt, while teen boys still...
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