Their summer nights have started to follow a pattern.
Shortly after dinner the trio of high school girls head over to the local athletic club and workout. Sometimes they swim, sometimes they attend a yoga class, sometimes they spend their whole time on the tread mills and the weight machines. After they shower, the trio then heads out for an ice cream or yogurt treat. As young 16 year old drivers, the group is working on learning their way around the city and searching out new ice cream shops or returning to favorites has served as an excellent way to do that.
From favorite ice cream containers to the cutest tasting spoons, each of the girls has a place that they like the most so far, but it seems like every day or so they find out about another location that they need to check out. On this particular week in Omaha, Nebraska, however, the group of girls finds themselves returning to one midtown store that captures so much attention during the College World Series. In honor of the eight teams that make it to the Greatest Show on Dirt, this ice cream store, that is known for famous visitors like Warren Buffet and Paul McCartney, creates and names a flavor for each of the teams.
Served in their simply designed but easily recognized ice cream containers, this store keeps a running tally of the fan favorite flavor and drops flavors as the teams drop out of the tournament. This year’s CWS offerings include:
- Beavs Banana Blaster for the Oregon State team.
- Cardinals Caramel Crunch for the Louisville team.
- Gator Graham Slam for the Florida team.
- Gig ‘Em Aggies Spirit Swirl for the Texas A and M team.
- Riff Ram Frog Slam for the TCU team.
- Tigers Go with a Cup of Geaux for the LSU team.
- Tomahawk Chocolate Chip for the Florida State team.
- Tuffy’s PB Titan Treat for the Cal State Fullerton team.
The clever names that adorn the ice cream containers create their own followings, even those who never go to one of the baseball games, but three teen tasters pride themselves on going to the games, as well as trying the flavors that represent their favorite teams. They have a collection of colored spoons at the end of many nights. Although they know they are disposable, the girls frequently comment that these shovel shaped spoons are just too cute to throw out!
Ice Cream Remains One of America’s Favorite Pastime
Whether you are a baseball fan, a teenage ice cream aficionado, or a casual ice cream eater, you likely have a favorite story about a family ice cream tradition. From the homemade ice cream you make at Grandma’s house in Easter to the whole family trek to the local ice cream drive up that opens every summer, ice cream is a favorite activity for many families. Consider some of these statistics about this favorite pastime and the way that the newest stores and the old favorite stores use specially designed ice cream containers and spoons to market themselves:
- 40% of Americans will eat ice cream in any given two-week period, according to research by NPD Group.
- 28.5 is the average number of times Americans will eat ice cream every year.
- 2,582 frozen yogurt stores were open in America at the end of the year 2013.
- 90% of U.S. households regularly enjoy a sweet, frozen treat.
- 1.5 billion gallons of ice cream and similar desserts are produced in the U.S. every year.
- 28% of consumers indicate that vanilla is their favorite, meaning that this remains the most popular flavor among consumers, according to a recent survey of International Ice Cream Association member companies,.
- Ice cream typically contains more than 50% air after it goes through the churning process.
- Gelato, on the other hand, contains between 3% and 8% milkfat and only 25% to 30% air.
- 9% of all the milk produced by U.S. dairy farmers is used to produce ice cream.
Perhaps because of the tendency of teenage drivers to search out the favorite and newest ice cream stores in the summer, June is the most popular month for eating ice cream. How about you? It is the third week of June, how much ice cream have you had so far? Have you had some today?
