The U.S. retail ice cream segment certainly has seen easier times. According to "Ice Cream and Frozen Novelties - U.S.," a report published in May 2019 by global market research firm Mintel, the mature and diverse category is "finding growth elusive."

The "one armed bandit" brought some good news and some bad news to the ice cream and frozen novelty segment in the past year. The good news? Frozen novelties saw a pretty payout, with dollar sales rising 4.2% to $4,906.3 million during the 52 weeks ending Aug. 11, 2019, according to data from Chicago-based market research firm IRI.

Ice cream is big business in the United States. According to the Washington, D.C.-based International Dairy Foods Association, it is an $11 billion industry that supports 26,000 direct jobs and generates $1.6 billion in direct wages.

Consumers' love affair with ice cream is global in scope. In fact, the global ice cream market size was valued at US$54.80 billion in 2016 and is expected to grow at a compound annual growth rate of 4.1% between 2018 and 2025, according to a January 2018 report from San Francisco-based Grand View Research.

Ice cream sales have been ticking up, showing some promise in the ever-competitive category. Sales of frozen novelties, meanwhile, have not been faring as well. Unit sales have been falling, and dollar sales have been nearly frozen.

Sales in the ice cream category look promising as dollars and units rose in the last year. Meanwhile unit sales in the frozen novelties category were frozen in place.

Ice cream sales continue to show promise as dollar and unit sales both see a boost. Frozen novelty sales also went up, thanks to price increases, because unit sales were almost at a standstill.

The ice cream category’s unit sales are practically in a standstill, while various segments like frozen yogurt and frozen dairy desserts are struggling.