Perhaps the unprecedented warmer fall weather in much of the United States was to blame for the melting of unit sales for frozen novelties and ice cream. Whatever the cause, only a few ice cream brands saw increases at the end of 2012.
In the 52 weeks ended Nov. 4, 2012, dollar sales in the ice cream/sherbert category went up 4.2% to $5.5 billion, but the unit sales were practically frozen, up 0.1% to 1.5 billion, according to data from SymphonyIRI Group, Chicago. (See the pie chart for a sales break down in segments for this category).