Sales Flat, Prices Up for Top 12 Ice Cream Brands

Dairy Foods, Sept, 2001

It's been a turbulent summer for the ice cream segment as the increase in costs for ingredients and energy have chipped away at margins and brought about price increases. Recent sales figures from Information Resources Inc. show that prices in the supermarket ice cream aisle are up. A breakdown of the top 15 brands shows that one had no average price change in the 52 weeks leading up to June 17, and some even dropped a penny or two per pint. But 10 of the top 15 brands cost more during the period than they did during the prior period. The average price per-pint for the top 15 brands rose three cents from the previous 52-week period average to 94 cents. More price hikes have been announced and will have hit the stores by mid-summer.

The table at right sheds light on some other trends in ice cream. For seven of the top 15 brands including private label, sales by volume lagged behind the previous period. This included super premium brands Haagen Dazs (-2.0) and Ben & Jerry's (-7.2). Not surprisingly the two ice cream makers, whose products cost a bit more then three times the average price per pint, hiked prices more than any others -- 8 cents for Haagen Dazs, 6 cents for Ben & Jerry's. For the entire group, dollar sales were up 1.5%, but volume sales slipped 1.4%. USDA production numbers through July 3 also show a drop of about 6% overall, with lowfat gaining 4.3%.

Some of the growth figures below are anomalies. Breyers Ice Cream Parlor was not introduced until late in the prior 52-week period, so the percentage numbers for this period are skewed. The company did sell $82 million worth of the brand, however, capturing 2% of the business done by the combined top 15. Turkey Hill's sales were off more than 10% due in part to an expansion project. Wells Blue Bunny showed double-digit growth due to strong marketing efforts. Wells' plant was also shut down for part of the period last year:

Sales Growth And Price Changes For Top 15 Ice Cream Brands
                                          Dollar %
                           Dollar Sales  Change From  Volume %
                           in Millions   Prior Year    Change
Private Label                   $929        -0.7%       -5.4%
Breyers                         $477        -5.0%       -4.3%
Dreyers/Edy's Grand             $398        -2.2%       -5.1%
Blue Bell                       $228         1.3%       -1.7%
Haagen Dazs                     $183         0.7%       -2.0%
Ben & Jerry's                   $148        -5.3%       -7.2%
Wells Blue Bunny                $116        16.7%       14.1%
Turkey Hill                      $93       - 12.9%     -11.3%
Dreyers Grand Light              $91        -1.2%        -2.9
Healthy Choice                   $88         1.3%        2.5%
Breyer's Ice Cream Parlor        $82       235.2%      241.6%
Kemps lce Cream                  $68        21.3%       18.4%
Mayfield                         $63        24.3%       22.2%
Dreyers/Edy's Dreamery           $61         9.8%        9.5%
Friendly                         $58         .09%        0.8%
TOTAL                         $4,054         1.5%       -1.4%
                                       Avg. Price
                           Avg. Price   Per Pint
                            Per Pint     Change
Private Label                 $.68         $.03
Breyers                      $1.02       ($.01)
Dreyers/Edy's Grand          $1.08         $.03
Blue Bell                    $1.15         $.03
Haagen Dazs                  $3.00         $.08
Ben & Jerry's                $3.15         $.06
Wells Blue Bunny              $.83         $.02
Turkey Hill                   $.79       ($0.2)
Dreyers Grand Light          $1.13         $.02
Healthy Choice               $1.09       ($.01)
Breyer's Ice Cream Parlor    $1.16       ($0.2)
Kemps lce Cream               $.66         $.02
Mayfield                      $.96         $.02
Dreyers/Edy's Dreamery       $2.83         $.01
Friendly                      $.86         $.00
TOTAL                         $.94         $.03
Supermarket sales for 52 weeks ended June 17, 2001
Source: Information Resources Inc.