Processors of frozen desserts look to grow with mini-portions and exotic flavors. That recipe is already working for frozen yogurt and pudding manufacturers.
While ice cream unit sales are struggling, despite many flavor innovations, frozen puddings and pies have seen promising growth, and frozen yogurt continues to soar.
According to Chicago-based Mintel, the ice cream segment has the largest amount of new product innovation, and remains the largest segment with 54% share of the $11.1 billion total U.S. retail sales of frozen desserts. But despite the innovations, unit sales still struggle. In the 52 weeks ended Oct. 7, 2012, unit sales of ice cream fell 1.1% (to 1.3 billion units), according to SymphonyIRI, a Chicago-based market research firm. (Read more about ice cream’s struggles and successes in our November State of the Industry report.)