Ice cream in America
Per capita, Americans lead the world in the consumption of ice cream, averaging in the first decade of the 21st century just over 23 pounds of the stuff per every man, woman, and child. Since many Americans feed it to their pets they should be included too. In response to demand, the United States produced, in 2015 alone, nearly 1 billion gallons of ice cream, which does not count the ice cream made at home and in restaurant kitchens.
America’s Joy Cone Company, which was formed in 1918 by an immigrant from Lebanon, has grown to produce more than two billion ice cream cones per year, making it the world’s largest maker of cake, waffle, and sugar cones. Even with that number of ice cream cones available on the market, some ice cream manufacturers prefer to make their own, such as Vermont based Ben & Jerry’s. And not all ice cream is eaten from cones.
Books and magazine articles, as well as online sites, list the best vacations for ice cream lovers, the best cities for them to live in, based on the quality and variety of the ice cream available in their environs, and the best universities and colleges to attend based on the local ice cream. Nearly all of America’s ice cream manufacturers offer tours of their facilities and samples of their products, which make them popular places to visit.
From being a luxury food item for the elite, enjoyed only by those who could afford it, ice cream grew to being an industry which contributed almost $40 billion to the nation’s economy by the early twenty first century. It has also created whole industries based around what Americans want to put under, on top, or alongside their ice cream when they consume it, a list of toppings, syrups, sauces, and other confections which adds to the joy of eating.
In 2015, 40% of American ice cream retailers and manufacturers reported an increase in demand for premium brands of ice cream, an indication that America is nowhere near having its fill. Though ice cream consumption fluctuates through the year – June and July are the peak consumption months – it remains popular throughout the seasons in the United States and around the world.
Where do we find this stuff? Here are our sources:
“Explore The Delicious History of Ice Cream”, by Tori Avey, PBS online, July 10, 2012
“The Soda Fountain”, by Joseph L. Morrison, American Heritage Magazine, August 1962
“Ice Cream History and Folklore”, by Douglas H. Goff, Dairy Science and Technology, online
“The Great American Ice Cream Book”, by Paul Dickson, 1972
“Carvel History”, by Carvel, online
“Ice Cream Ingredients”, by Douglas H. Goff, Dairy Science and Technology, online
“Ice Cream Sales & Trends”, by the International Dairy Foods Association (IDFA), online