Just because it’s winter, that doesn’t mean that people are going to stop eating ice cream. In fact, for many people the perfect cold weather treat might be vanilla ice cream with hot chocolate sauce. Americans are notorious for eating ice cream all year round, which is why it’s a good idea to stay stocked up on ice cream and gelato cups, not to mention ice cream spoons and other dessert supplies.
What’s the best way to eat ice cream?
Americans eat a lot of ice cream. Four out of ten or 40% will eat ice cream in any two-week period. On average, Americans eat ice cream 28.5 times a year. And 90% of all households regularly eat ice creams or some other frozen treat such as gelato or frozen yogurt.
There are plenty of ways to serve ice cream as well. You can go healthy and use it to top fruit like strawberries, bananas, blueberries, blackberries and more. Or you can, rarely we hope, go the other way and use ice cream to top a combination of fruit and pound cake. And don’t forget the sprinkles!
Vanilla ice cream is forever
To keep up with the demand, ice cream producers and stores work year-round as well, producing about 1.5 billion gallons of ice cream and sweet frozen desserts each year. In fact, about 9% of all the milk produced in the U.S. is used to make ice cream.
There are all kinds of new flavors around, from green tea and pistachio to ginger and black bean. But the favorite flavor remains, you guessed it, vanilla. A survey by the International Ice Cream Association found that for 28% of consumers, vanilla is the favorite flavor.
Ice cream v. Gelato
That’s not to say that ice cream doesn’t face any competition. Frozen yogurt and gelato are popular too, especially among those who are looking for all the fun of eating ice cream but less sugar.
Gelato has 3 to 8% milk fat, compared to ice cream, which must have at least 10% milk fat by law. Gelato is also denser than ice cream, which contains more air. Ice cream is churned until it contains 50% air. Sorbets and frozen yogurt are other popular frozen treats. Gelato cups are a sophisticated choice, and compare well with the best premium ice creams.
Ice cream producers make the most ice cream in June, but it’s consumed year-round, in great quantities. That’s why it’s always a good idea to keep supplies like ice cream cups and gelato cups handy, because you never know when the craving will strike.
