Part
01
of ten
Part
01
Consumption Trends - Dairy Desserts in Foodservice
After an extensive search through market research reports and food industry websites, information on consumption trends of dairy desserts in foodservice across age ranges was unavailable. However, helpful insights on the dairy dessert market in foodservice and some statistics on US consumption have been provided below.
DAIRY DESSERTS IN FOODSERVICE
- The foodservice market has a slightly larger share (55%) of the total US ice cream and frozen dessert market compared to the retail sector.
- Ice cream and frozen dessert sales have hovered near $27 billion for the past several years, and foodservice sales comprise $15.7 billion.
- There is a downward trend in foodservice growth since 2016 due to restaurant closures, causing a rise in retail ice cream sales.
- According to KanPak, 50% of restaurants have ice cream on their menu, while 11% of the restaurants offer milkshake.
CONSUMER CONSUMPTION
- According to KanPak, 68% of consumers most often enjoy soft-serve ice cream as a snack, specifically in the afternoon.
- Milkshakes are commonly consumed with a meal, especially during lunch — 47% of the time.
- The top reason for consuming frozen desserts, according to 60% of respondents in KanPak's survey, was to satisfy the craving, while the second most cited reason was to treat themselves.
- According to the Datassential Dessert's Sweet Spot Keynote Report 2019, ice cream is still the most consumed dessert.
- According to 45% of operators, dessert beverages rank among the top three in the best-selling desserts. These include affogatos and milkshakes.
MILLENNIALS
- According to a report from Dean Foods, Millennials, who have traditionally skewed their consumption to foodservice, have favored ice cream consumption at home.
RESEARCH STRATEGY
The research team began by looking for pre-compiled consumption statistics on dairy desserts in the foodservice sector through industry reports, market statistics, and surveys on the consumption of dairy dessert in foodservice. We hoped to find data that categorize the age ranges that consume dairy desserts. Unfortunately, there were no pre-compiled studies, reports, or statistics available. We only found market reports behind paywalls that may have the data.
Next, we tried breaking down the criteria looking for data on dairy desserts in general and restaurant/foodservice desserts in general, hoping to find data that would be useful for triangulation. For this, we searched through foodservice websites and food industry organizations such as the International Dairy Foods Association, Think US Dairy, Dean Foods, GS Gelato, Hershey Food Service Insight, and Institute of Food Technologist, as well as research reports from sources like Mintel and Nielsen. This approach yielded helpful data, such as how often dairy desserts appear on restaurant menus and how consumers consume dairy desserts.
We then tried to find trend reports, consumer reports, and surveys with information specific to dessert consumption by age. The idea was to find data on preferences of different age ranges regarding dairy desserts, as a representation of the overall US consumption. While we found generational behavior studies on dining out and dairy preference, there wasn't enough data to triangulate consumption statistics by age range/generation.