Private label sales lead, grow in declining ice cream category

Call it a sweet situation. Despite the ice cream category declining overall in terms of revenue and unit sales, private label ice cream was among the gainers in the space, and private label sales topped all branded options, according to IRI data for the 52 weeks ended Nov. 3 that was recently published by Dairy Foods. 

In the $6 billion ice cream category, private label offerings comprised $1.1 billion of total category sales, an increase of 5.5% over the prior-year period. Additionally, private label unit sales increased by 4% to 361.1 million units. Besides leading the category, private label fared better than several national brands whose sales declined during the period, including Halo Top, whose revenue dipped by 33.5%, and Breyers, whose revenue dropped by 9.8%. Overall, the category revenue nearly fell flat, showing a 0.5% decline with a 2% dip in unit sales. 

Other gainers in the category included Haagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry’s, Turkey Hill, and Talenti, which was the biggest gainer in the category, growing revenue by 7.4% and unit sales by 6%. 

To read Dairy Foods’ full writeup, click here.