As the weather warms and shoppers emerge from winter- and lockdown-induced hibernation, there’s no better time to review your ice cream offer.
The ice cream category performed strongly in the past two years, showing year on year growth across P&C and supermarkets, says FroPro and TYB Food Co General Manager Matthew Beger.
“New product development and an increase in shopper frequency, along with an increase in home delivery, have seen the channel continue to grow,” he says.
Golden North Ice Cream Director of Sales Dimi Kyriazis agrees that ice cream is performing well in convenience.
“Sales in this channel are linked to the price of fuel, as this is what drives consumers into the outlet,” he says. “What’s great about this channel is the visibility of product, with the display freezers mostly in the traffic corridor of the store.”
When it comes to trends, health and indulgence continue to shape the ice cream category, with NPD striving to meet consumer desires.
“Health has continued to take great market share as people become more focused on what they’re putting into their bodies, with a focus on ‘no added sugar’, ‘high protein’ and other nutritional benefits,” Mr Beger says.
However, he adds that the importance of indulgence is shifting as convenience shoppers change their habits.
“Ice cream has always been a highly impulsive purchase across mainstream convenience and, due to that, the selections have normally been based on indulgence and instant gratification,” he says.
This is why impulse sales have always led the category dominated by high-indulgence offerings and NPD, with people looking to grab something new and exciting for immediate consumption.
“Over the last two years, we’ve seen a shift with an increased focus on planned purchases or ‘buy now to consume later’. This is largely due to the adoption of aggregators for home delivery, like Uber Eats, and market conditions, like Covid with more people shopping more regularly for top-up shops at their local convenience stores,” Mr Beger says.
For the latest scoop on ice cream trends and launches, check out the November-December issue of Convenience World.
