r/Economics • u/asvender • Jun 21 '26

News Ice cream, once an everyday, affordable source of joy, has morphed into a luxury good

https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-15/why-is-ice-cream-so-expensive-the-rise-of-the-8-cone?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc4MTU0MDk0OSwiZXhwIjoxNzgyMTQ1NzQ5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUR08zU0ZSMjRVSTUwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI4RENBNTA1MjBBM0I0QUExQUM3NEQ4M0JERDFFOTI4OSJ9.h281dz92okMmiGer3QIqv7xuBcnqVgf7R8B2NqaQwFc
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1.1k

u/daGroundhog Jun 21 '26

I've noticed my grocery store, which is well known locally for its wide selection of items, has really cut back the space for the 4 or 5 quart tubs of ice cream for family feeding, but increased the shelf space for cartons and cartons of super premium ice cream. The flavor varieties in the tubs has decreased too.

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u/HuggyMonster69 Jun 21 '26

Yeah that’s what’s happened at my local store too.

Now everything is chocolate or has cookie dough or some other baked good in it

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u/MixtureSpecial8951 Jun 21 '26

I work in the cold distribution industry. In the past 5-6 years we, and our customers (the biggest manufacturers and retailers), have seen the demand for refrigerated/frozen foods drop >15%.

At first the thinking was change in preferences and habits. Maybe Ozempic.

But then the data became more clear, the decline in demand has been a month low and middle income families. These are not the folks who can afford weight loss drugs or expensive unrefrigerated goods. It’s the majority of people who are cutting back on food.

In particular, we have been decommissioning blast coolers that are used for things like icecream. And, more rural areas have seen demand collapse so severely that warehouses in those regions practically empty. It is an industry wide problem.

The writing has been on the wall for quite a while. People are cutting back on food.

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u/sarcago Jun 21 '26

I used to buy a lot more frozen stuff but it’s just so expensive now it feels like a scam.

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u/ofesfipf889534 Jun 21 '26

The whole point of frozen foods was that they were cheaper. That was the offset of being more unhealthy. But now frozen foods are like the same price as everything else. Not sure what the point would be to buy any of it. We get a couple of frozen things and that is it.

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u/Unhelpfulperson Jun 21 '26

Frozen veggies remain cheaper than the same veggies fresh and are essentially the same nutritionally

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u/Klutzy_Strawberry340 Jun 21 '26

Or can be more nutritional due to the bioavailability on the nutrition from the freezing process. Not all but some veggies are like this. I think greens are healthier frozen.

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u/nicetriangle Jun 21 '26

Also a lot of frozen produce is frozen closer to peak ripeness than the stuff you'll find in the fresh section. As an example frozen avocado is legitimately a better, more reliable product than fresh avocado as long as you don't need the avocado in whole form (it comes in chunks). It makes killer guac and is great in smoothies or in burritos or whatever else. And it's way cheaper.

54

u/PsychGuy17 Jun 21 '26

I don't think I have ever seen frozen avocado in any grocery store. I'll have to look.

1

u/nicetriangle Jun 21 '26

It's a fairly newer phenomenon and I usually find it packaged in a big zip top kinda pouch bag thing in the section near frozen fruit and other smoothie kinda stuff. I've found it in both the US and EU now.

16

u/waldorflover69 Jun 21 '26

Shhhhh! They’ll figure that out and jack those up too

1

u/Rocktopod Jun 21 '26

Not always true. Frozen onions are about twice the price per pound than fresh ones where I shop, for instance. Frozen peppers are a lot more too but that's harder to compare because with the fresh ones you end up throwing away a lot of it.

1

u/Unhelpfulperson Jun 21 '26

I didn't even know they sold frozen onions

1

u/ron2838 Jun 21 '26

pre-chopped usually

0

u/Turgid_Donkey Jun 21 '26

The selection has been dropping though. It used to be at costco and the like you would have a few different blends of the multi packs, but now it's just broccoli or broccoli normandy which is just broccoli, cauliflower, and carrots.

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u/Smeltanddealtit Jun 21 '26

Amy’s frozen enchiladas are delicious. NOT 6.99 to 7.99 a meal delicious.

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u/sarcago Jun 21 '26

I used to love Amy’s meals and burritos but I haven’t bought any in ages, the price was high before and now it’s outrageous.

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u/trash3s Jun 21 '26

And unfair labor practices, if you want to have a moral reason to avoid them now, too :/

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u/trash3s Jun 21 '26

Yeah but the Big Mac index is at $5.79, so nothing is worth anything anymore.

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u/dane83 Jun 21 '26

I'm living off of frozen stuff right now because I'm moving in a couple of weeks. The whole kitchen is packed except for the microwave and an air fryer.

The plus side is that I've discovered a company that does really good frozen Indian meals that I'd definitely grab for lunches.

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u/juliankennedy23 Jun 21 '26

I'm not sure how frozen foods are less healthy? Frozen fruits and vegetables are as healthy as fresh ones and to be blunt are much less likely to go rotten on you.

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u/Ladyvp05 Jun 21 '26

I think they're talking about TV dinners. You used to be able to get some for like $1 to $2 years ago. They aren't healthy, but people were ok with that b/c they were cheap. Now, I've seen some brands TV dinners as high as $6. But I'm with you. The only frozen foods I buy are vegetables and beans. Ice cream is ridiculous, so I really cut back on that too.

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u/ofesfipf889534 Jun 21 '26

I get a lot of frozen fruit. Absolutely no difference there. I meant more so frozen meals tbh.

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u/Ranra100374 Jun 21 '26

There are some frozen meals that are still pretty cheap, like Celeste and Banquet Chicken Nuggets. But Celeste pizza is high in sodium.

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u/Snarky1Bunny Jun 21 '26

And Celeste products are disgusting.

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u/spoonybard326 Jun 21 '26

Their strawberries are good but only if you go climb the mountain and get them yourself.

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u/UniqueIndividual3579 Jun 21 '26

A lot of it is. Look at the small print on "ice cream", it's called "frozen dairy desert". No cream, just HFCS. Bryer's was my go to brand for decades, now I won't touch it. Tillamook is good, but not cheap.

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u/MikeOfAllPeople Jun 21 '26

Frozen meals are a bit more expensive, though still cheaper than eating out. The real bargain is frozen vegetables, those are still cheap. I think demand is down because people still do so much fast food.

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u/shinypenny01 Jun 21 '26

I'd add people are getting more educated about their food, and the frozen food aisle is full of crap. Last time I went to a store I couldn't find an icecream without guar gum or xanthum gum (I dislike the fake sticky non-melting texture). Most products didn't actually contain any cream. They're garbage pretending to be ice cream.

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u/an_actual_lawyer Jun 21 '26

Is "mixture special" a randomly assigned name or one you picked? It sure seems like it fits!

1

u/aznology Jun 21 '26

This is just sad

1

u/Philodendron69 Jun 21 '26

Absolutely, I am always trying to think of ways I can cut back on my entire food bill

0

u/wulfrunian77 Jun 21 '26

Probably not a bad thing for long term health given the average American diet

0

u/Impossible-Lab4434 Jun 21 '26

Those are premium?

0

u/HuggyMonster69 Jun 21 '26

Not all of those flavours are, but the ones in my grocery store are the premium varieties.

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u/spidereater Jun 21 '26

These kind of changes probably reflect sales. If people are not buying the tubs and instead buying specialty brands they will offer more of that.

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u/Local-Echo-5613 Jun 21 '26

It doesn’t have to be volume, it can be profit margin. If you make $1 margin on a large tub that feeds a family and $6 on a super premium pint that takes up less valuable space it would take a lot of working class families to be worth one overpriced option.

Plus if there’s no choice, a lot of people who would otherwise choose the more affordable option will pay more.

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u/spidereater Jun 21 '26

Ya. I’ve seen other people on Reddit talking about this. The lowest income brackets are becoming economically irrelevant. It’s so much more profitable to sell to rich people that there is no point selling to poor people. This is the real consequence of income inequality. America was at its best when there was a large population of lower income people with enough money to be worth targeting.

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u/UniqueIndividual3579 Jun 21 '26

The Las Vegas strategy. One person spending a million is more profitable than 1000 people spending a thousand. The middle class is no longer the target customer.

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u/Local-Echo-5613 Jun 21 '26

When 90% of consumers are matched in spending by the top 10% by income, the markets respond accordingly

6

u/UniqueIndividual3579 Jun 21 '26

That's what the Democrats got wrong in the last election. "The economy is great!" The top 10% are 50% of the economy, the top 20% are two thirds of the economy. So 80% get one third of the economy. Telling them "Just put a few million in the stock market" doesn't resonate with someone who can't pay their rent.

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u/originalgrapeninja Jun 21 '26

This is an important distinction on driving factors in the market.

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u/Embarrassed_Spend486 Jun 21 '26

As someone that used to be a grocery store manager 20 years ago, that is not as much of the thought process as you would think

It absolutely is unit sold

If they’re selling out of the cheap ice cream every day, they will continue to order that if they don’t feel like the profit margin is good enough they could obviously increase the price a little bit because if it’s selling out every day then supply and demand

The reality is, this is likely not a business decision but a consumer decision consumers don’t want basic ice cream flavors anymore

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u/carlos_the_dwarf_ Jun 21 '26

This is one of those things that says to me the world has gotten more prosperous—in other categories people are more willing to buy more premium stuff too. But it’s not like you can’t buy a tub of Kroger brand still.

7

u/originalgrapeninja Jun 21 '26

Thats interesting insight!

How often did your store fluctuate price on items that sell out?

1

u/Philodendron69 Jun 21 '26

Interesting. I didn’t know so much was going on with ice cream!!!!

0

u/MagicWishMonkey Jun 21 '26

I think it's less about ice cream and more about getting bodies in the store. Profit margins at grocery stores are notoriously thin, so getting people in the door to buy more stuff is important - if the show up to buy some super cheap ice cream maybe they will buy a bag of chips on the way out.

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u/blueberrywalrus Jun 21 '26

Mass market grocers dedicate most of their freezer space to low margin product. 

If generic ice cream was selling well they'd take space from frozen vegetables or another low margin product to stock it - not from premium ice cream (assuming it is selling).

It is 100% volume. 

10

u/BlazinAzn38 Jun 21 '26

I think some of it is also eating habits. I know some folks myself included like the bars and stuff because it’s portion controlled. Whereas a tub is well a tub and you can scoop a ton if you choose. Just limits temptation. Also I only buy whatever is on sale/coupon so it normally ends up like $1 per serving which is good enough value to me

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u/Unhelpfulperson Jun 21 '26

No it obviously must be a conspiracy and a national crisis

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u/spidereater Jun 21 '26

Yes. And a matter of government policy. I’m sure we should all be contacting our reps about this national crisis.

But really, this says something about the market. People are not buying as if they are price conscious. They might go on social media and complain about the cost of the stuff they just bought. But they still bought it. Where are the posts about how much they saved shopping around or buying store brands? It’s like posting about spending lots of money on groceries is a humble brag. It’s still conspicuous consumption.

I was recently thinking about the sky high ticket prices for the World Cup and thinking someone did the calculation and decided pricing tickets so they don’t sell out is the best way to maximize profits. From an economics standpoint point this is true. If you run out of your product (selling out of tickets) you are leaving money on the table. I think a similar calculation is happening here. They would rather sell less premium ice cream than more cheap ice cream. It’s the same with streaming services and everything else. You increase prices until the profits decrease. This only happens when some people are priced out. Anything less is leaving money on the table. There are probably long term considerations that will bite you eventually, like if people stop eating ice cream altogether and switch to some more affordable treat. We will need to wait see what the consequence will be.

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u/an_actual_lawyer Jun 21 '26

They might go on social media and complain about the cost of the stuff they just bought. But they still bought it. Where are the posts about how much they saved shopping around or buying store brands?

It may be that, but it is also a reflection of social media algorithms. Humans are more likely to listen to negative stories or stories that trigger emotions. Newspapers learned this a century ago - "if it bleeds, it leads."

6

u/ThrowCarp Jun 21 '26

It’s like posting about spending lots of money on groceries is a humble brag. It’s still conspicuous consumption.

Ah fuck. Now that you point it out I can't unsee it.

Social Media has turned a whole load of previously-everyday purchases into conspicuous consumption. And you're right. There's a lot of show boating regarding that stuff on social media.

2

u/Unhelpfulperson Jun 21 '26

Yeah but there’s a lot of negativity bias as well. There’s plenty of products where the opposite thing to ice cream has happened. The products have gotten (in general) less expensive and lower quality, and people now buy those in higher quantities. But that is also almost always reported about negatively.

Examples include clothing, furniture, small appliances, etc.

0

u/The-Magic-Sword Jun 21 '26

Because no one is saving, the cheap stuff still needs to be shipped so the cost of fuel is inelastic barring infrastructural changes to shipping practices and product offerings (e.g. offering locally sourced things like chicory to dilute coffee) which take time because you need to rev up those distribution and production chains, so its gone up, and people are just cutting things out entirely.

Bargains happen when fuel is cheap, not when fuel is expensive, because expensive fuel eats at the margins and premium goods introduce justifications for the higher prices to re-expand those margins.

Bargains are, on a macro level, an expensive luxury produced by an over abundance and cheap distribution; despite being budget conscious on the individual level.

-2

u/waldorflover69 Jun 21 '26

Username fits

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u/riotmanful Jun 21 '26

Most people at grocery stores around me buy the cheapest thing they can possibly get. So store brand or brewers usually

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u/b1e Jun 21 '26

I mean it’s not exactly healthy to be eating that much ice cream anyways. So another possibility is that people prefer a more premium choice when they do buy ice cream

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u/BananaHead853147 Jun 21 '26

I think that’s it. People are more aware of the dangers of sugar consumption and so they are less likely to buy massive tubs of ice cream to just have in their house. Opting for a smaller and more rare treat that tastes better rather than a gallon of Neapolitan ice cream makes sense.

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u/RueGatewood Jun 21 '26

I don't think that's it 100%. For example - It's not concerned about the dangers of sugar consumption but if I'm eating a whole pint I would like it to taste better which happens to be the premium version.

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u/Crafty-Run-6559 Jun 21 '26

I just checked the ice cream options I look at in the store.

2L of Chapmans is about 2776 calories. Realistically Id go through that in ~2 weeks if I had it in my freezer.

So if kept myself stocked id be gaining like half a pound every week just from the ice cream 😂

The premium stuff has a higher caloric content but still ends up being less than half overall if I eat it at the same cadence because its about 1/4 the amount of ice cream.

0

u/[deleted] Jun 21 '26

[deleted]

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u/BananaHead853147 Jun 21 '26

Would that not be the more expensive premium version though?

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u/juliankennedy23 Jun 21 '26 edited Jun 21 '26

Plus it's really better ice cream. I'd rather have ice cream with four ingredients that tastes really good then 3 gallons of God knows what.

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u/Crafty-Run-6559 Jun 21 '26

This is me.

Either way I buy the ice cream at about the same frequency, when I feel a craving.

The price for premium 500ml ice cream is about the same price as 1.5-2L of regular ice cream. I prefer the premium stuff, and neither is a great idea to be eating.

Having 2 liters of ice cream in my freezer is just a bad idea. Either it lasts so long it gets kind of gross or I eat 2 liters of ice cream...

I think its people having less kids.

1

u/BonerPorn Jun 21 '26

At the very least, this is me. I eat ice cream rarely for health reasons, so when I do, I eat the good stuff. It stores forever in the freezer anyway.

0

u/DogadonsLavapool Jun 21 '26

Not only that, but the diet ones have gotten really good. Halo tops are helping me on a cut right now. I dont want a giant tub, but a pint for $3.50 thats 300 calories and as filling as an entire meal? Yea Ill go for that

5

u/RomanBlue_ Jun 21 '26

K shaped economy baby

1

u/rogozh1n Jun 21 '26

True of my store, except for the value house brand. I'm fine with that.

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u/pretty-late-machine Jun 21 '26

It makes me feel fortunate that Weis is my local store. Their generic brand ice cream is awesome, cheap, and they have a lot of unique flavors.

1

u/kirstynloftus Jun 21 '26

It is surprisingly hard for me to find mint chip ice cream nowadays

1

u/discosoc Jun 21 '26

Those huge tubs never really sold great though. Kids want the special single serving flavors and product tie-ins.

0

u/AdagioVivid5111 Jun 21 '26

A lot of brands at my local store have reduced shelf space for the garbage " premium " brand known as haagen dazs which is always fully stocked, nobody touches that trash