Did you know that July is National Ice Cream Month? Back in 1984, President Ronald Reagan designated July as National Ice Cream Month and the third Sunday of the month (that’s this Sunday, btw) as National Ice Cream Day. Thank you President Reagan!

I LOVE ice cream. So let’s talk about it!

According to the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), an average American consumes 23 pounds of ice cream per year. (I sometimes think I eat that much in just a month!)

The IDFA recently conducted a survey and the results found that America’s top five flavors are the following:

  1. Vanilla
  2. Chocolate
  3. Cookies N’ Cream
  4. Mint Chocolate Chip (my favorite!)
  5. Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough

What’s your favorite flavor? Let me know.

Now, according to The Nielsen Company, since consumers are becoming more health conscious, 68% of those they surveyed said they’re willing to spend more on foods and drinks that don’t contain “undesirable” ingredients. This means there’s been a surge in sales of ice cream brands that call themselves a “good source of protein,” “vegan,” “low glycemic,” and “contains sugar substitutes,” among other terms.

Consumers are increasingly moving toward non-diary varieties, which has seen the highest dollar sales growth than any other subcategory (49% increase compared with the prior year.), according to Nielsen.

But good old regular ice cream still leads the way, with $6.6 billion in sales for the year ended May 27, 2017.

Ice Cream Facts
We have to include some tasty facts from the IDFA!

  • About 1.54 billion gallons of ice cream and related frozen desserts were produced in the U.S. in 2015.
  • The majority of U.S. ice cream and frozen dessert manufacturers have been in business for more than 50 years and many are still family-owned businesses.
  • The ice cream industry in the United States contributes more than $39.0 billion to the national economy and creates more than 188,000 jobs in communities across the country.

So make sure to celebrate National Ice Cream Day this Sunday. I know I will! And let me know what flavor you get.