(Almost) everyone loves ice cream

Ice cream is purchased by nine out of 10 U.S. households in hefty qualities, in both unit and dollar terms, is a guaranteed repeat buy, and doesn't require discounting to move (fewer than 5% of purchases made with a coupon). It's also a category that is overwhelmingly owned by grocery stores and supermarkets. Most ice cream sales fall into the bulk segment; the other two parts of the category as tracked by ACNielsen, ice milk/sherbet and frozen yogurt, are comparatively far less popular-with penetration just in the teens-but each has pockets of noticeable strength. Ice milk/sherbet in households with teens, while frozen yogurt is popular among older, affluent households. Frozen yogurt is also markedly more favored by residents of the Eastern U.S.

As might be expected, the presence of children has a positive impact on ice cream purchasing. But it's less than one might think: only in households with only teen-aged children does consumption index significantly higher (120+) than average. In households with younger children, or with teens and preteens, ice cream purchase patterns are closer to average. That suggests merchandising and promotion aimed at teens or parents of teens, versus the younger set or their parents, would be more effective.

Ice cream is clearly seen as a luxury item, with purchasing indexing the highest among upper incomes. High-income households ($70,000+) are the only group to index significantly above average for ice cream.

In ethnic terms, ice cream, bulk ice cream, and frozen yogurt all index significantly lower than average among African-American and Asian households. Asians also have little taste for ice milk/sherbet, but the segment indexes a touch above average among African-Americans. Hispanics don't show much interest in frozen yogurt, but buy significantly more (index of 124) ice milk/sherbet.