Ice Cream: Food Retail's Private Label Playground

Two-thirds of U.S. consumers find parity between grocers' private label frozen desserts and their national brand counterparts

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Packaged Facts

Mar 06, 2017, 08:57 ET

ROCKVILLE, Md., March 6, 2017 /PRNewswire/ -- Ice cream is among the largest supermarket food categories, one of only ten with double digit billion dollar sales, according to market research publisher Packaged Facts in the report Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts in the U.S., 9^th Edition.

Given the high standing of ice cream among the food categories in retail groceries, it isn't surprising that store brand/private label products are so prominent, accounting for nearly 20% of all frozen dessert sales, packaged and novelties combined, and as much as half the sales in the sherbet/sorbet/water ice category. Another reason for retailers to want in on ice cream sales via their private label products is that ice cream is an expensive category for retail stores, as it must be kept frozen and a lot of space must be given over to the category in order to keep up with the plethora of ice cream brands and varieties that consumers want to choose among.

Sales of private label frozen desserts have grown steadily over the last couple of decades. In recent years, about two-thirds of consumers have come to accept that private label frozen desserts are equal in quality to name brand frozen desserts. This perception is based in reality, as private label frozen desserts have been on a steady rise in terms of quality over the past three decades.

The starting point was the explosion in quality among branded frozen desserts marked by the expansion of superpremium ice cream sales and a burst of activity in the premium category. Economy and regular ice creams lost ground as consumers, once they had a taste of the "good stuff," had a hard time accepting anything else. As a result, private label frozen desserts, which accounted for a lot of the low-end activity, were being squeezed out of the market. Viewing the success of premium products, retailers opted to get on the bandwagon and the improvement of private label frozen desserts was underway.

Unsurprisingly, frozen desserts weren't the only food category in which this trend was taking place. Across the board, private label products were being upgraded as consumers shifted from a purely lowest price approach to shopping to a price/value approach which weighed significantly in the acceptance of the new, upgraded, private label products. Also becoming a factor in private label sales increases for frozen desserts and other foods was the expansion of upscale, specialty, and natural food retail chains such as Whole Foods and Trader Joe's which actively promote their store brands as top quality offerings as good as any branded products, with the same flavors that are trending as consumer favorites, as for example with Whole Foods Caramel and Sea Salt "Authentic Italian" Gelato.

Looking ahead there are good reasons to believe that private label ice creams and other frozen desserts will continue to gain market share. Retailers are expanding their offerings with more organic and natural products as well as jumping on the clean label bandwagon with products positioned for their absence of artificial ingredients. And they ae continuing to match the branded products in terms of popular flavor trends as they emerge, whether its Peanut Butter and Jelly from Wegman's or Birthday Cake from HEB.

About the Report

Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts in the U.S., 9^th Edition covers the efforts of marketers that range from global food giants like Unilever and Nestlé to the newest start-ups. In doing so the report covers topics such topics as how marketers are responding to evolving consumer likes and dislikes, health concerns, foodservice consumption patterns, marketing and promotional activities, and other areas relevant to this always popular food category.

View additional information about Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts in the U.S., 9^th Edition, including purchase options, the abstract, table of contents, and related reports at Packaged Facts' website: http://www.packagedfacts.com/Ice-Cream-Frozen-10590338/.

About Packaged Facts

Packaged Facts, a division of MarketResearch.com, publishes market intelligence on a wide range of consumer market topics, including consumer demographics and shopper insights, consumer financial products and services, consumer goods and retailing, consumer packaged goods, and pet products and services. Packaged Facts also offers a full range of custom research services.

Reports related to Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts in the U.S., 9^th Edition can be found and purchased at https://www.packagedfacts.com/food-beverage-market-c84/.

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SOURCE Packaged Facts