Sales of packaged ice cream in Italy have gone up by 4.4% in the first six months of 2017 compared to the same period last year, according to the Istituto Del Gelato Italiano (IGI).
A survey conducted for IGI by Eurisko revealed that 95% of Italians enjoy ice cream. Mario Piccialuti, head of IGI, told Ansa that the survey also shows consumer habits are changing.
"Previously, ice cream consumption was tightly linked to summer and the open air, but today Italians like to eat it out of season and especially at home," he said, adding that there has been a boom in sales of family packs of ice cream, up by 12.5% over last year.
Consumer Choices
Almost 23 million Italians consume ice cream outdoors during the summer months (56% of the total), with an average of 20 portions per capita bought throughout the season. Four out of ten Italians consume ice cream outside the home even during the winter.
The packaged ice cream market in Italy is worth around €2 billion, however, the global market for Italian ice cream as a whole is worth over €15 billion.
© 2017 European Supermarket Magazine – your source for the latest retail news. Article by Branislav Pekic. Click subscribe to sign up to ESM: The European Supermarket Magazine
