Americans Continue their Love Affair with Ice Cream
No doubt about it. Americans love their ice cream. And in rough times, Americans have traditionally turned to their favorite comfort foods, including full-fat ice cream.
“Covid-19, political turmoil, inflation, and the ongoing threat of recession have made the last few years stressful for many,” said Betty Berning, analyst with the Daily Dairy Report. “It’s at times like these that people seek our comfort foods, particularly decadent or high-fat sweets.”
Last year, U.S. manufacturers churned out more than 919.6 gallons of ice cream, a 4.47% increase from 2021 and the highest output since 2010. Because ice cream is a made-for-demand product, 2022 production reflects an annual per capita consumption rate of 2.77 gallons per person, Berning said, which is up substantially since record-keeping began.
USDA began keeping track of ice cream production in 1918. That year, U.S. ice cream producers made 142.9 million gallons. In 1918, the United States had a population of just over 103 million people. According to Berning’s calculations, that means in 1918, annual U.S. per capita consumption of ice cream was roughly 1.4 gallons, not accounting for homemade product.
U.S. ice cream production peaked in 2002 at just over 1 billion gallons, according to USDA data. Over the past 15 years, it has hovered between 830 million and 920 million gallons a year. Since 2020, though, a resurgence in ice cream production has occurred, with 2020-22 average output up 4.3% to 905.2 gallons compared to 867.6 gallons in the previous three-year period (2017-2019).
“While ice cream is available in many flavors, like Flamin’ Hot Cheetos, Kraft Macaroni and Cheese, and Sweet Avocado Cayenne, the ubiquitous flavors of chocolate and vanilla continue to claim top slots on Americans’ lists of favorite flavors year after year,” Berning said.
When choosing ice cream, Berning said, it appears that most Americans grab containers of regular, or full-fat, ice cream. Production of regular ice cream has been nearly twice that of low-fat versions. During the worst of the pandemic, low-fat ice cream consumption fell while nonfat ice cream consumption has plummeted since 2014.
“Demand for ice cream and soft serve has been increasing seasonally,” Berning noted. “Theoretically, more fat should be available for churning because fat levels in milk are increasing, and the United States has also been a net importer of butter this year. That’s helping to fill the butter pipeline and freeing up butterfat for other products, including ice cream.”
