Sure, It’s Cold, But Not Too Cold To Scream for Ice Cream

Some people crave the cold, celebrating when the mercury drops below freezing and even taking bone-chilling dips with the Coney Island Polar Bear Club. But while those people may be few and far between, ice cream still has a loyal following in the winter months.“People are always eating ice cream,” said Erin Riordan, a spokeswoman for Kemps LLC, a dairy company based in Minneapolis, where people know a thing or two about cold winters. “I had it for dessert last night,” she said.Ice cream sales do peak in the summer months, but overall sales of the frozen confection don’t fall off that dramatically in the winter, Ms. Riordan said.“Like any treat that makes you feel great, or makes a bad day better, you think of that product no matter what time of year it is,” said the director of brand excitement for Baskin-Robbins, Maria Feicht.According to supermarket sales figures from 2001, Des Moines, Iowa, sold the most supermarket ice cream in the country, with 2.8 gallons sold per capita that year, according to a spokeswoman for the International Dairy Foods Association. Surprisingly, in addition to predictable warm spots like Orlando, Fla., other cities where ice cream was a top seller included Green Bay, Wis.; Portland, Ore., and Salt Lake City, Utah.It is hard to tell where New York City rates, since the data only covers supermarket sales, and the city is home to hundreds of separate scoop shops that aren’t factored in.But whether you buy your ice cream in a grocery store or at Baskin-Robbins, ice-cream makers have rolled out special holiday flavors like candy cane, gingerbread, and hot chocolate to keep consumers interested year-round.“There is definitely some seasonality,” Ms. Feicht said of wintertime sales. “Do we see sales slightly dipped? Sure. But it’s not like we change our hours.”Although supermarket pint sales of Ben & Jerry’s remain fairly stable year-round, alternative products – like coffee and other hot drinks – have been introduced to keep customers coming to the company’s ice cream parlors, a spokeswoman said. Ben & Jerry’s has even tried hot shakes in the past.The staff at TriBeCa Rocky Mountain Chocolate Factory, where signs on the door advertise hot chocolate, said they sell a decent amount of ice cream even when the temperatures plummet. Naturally, their hot beverages are big sellers, but three dishes of ice cream and two milkshakes were also sold yesterday.Not surprisingly, the president of the Coney Island Polar Bear Club, Louis Scarcella, said he is also an ice-cream enthusiast. In fact, his passion for ice cream is so strong that he admitted to waking up every night, year-round, between 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. to steal a few spoonfuls before going back to bed.“I love ice cream,” he said. “Peanut butter swirl, oh man, yeah, now you got me going.”

Sure, It’s Cold, But Not Too Cold To Scream for Ice Cream

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