A frozen dairy nation

The USDA has recorded how much ice cream we eat for over 100 years. Back in 1909, Americans only consumed 1.6 pounds of ice cream per capita. Over the years annual ice cream consumption climbed to its peaked in 1946 at 22.7 pounds per person. Today, we eat only about half that much ice cream - 12.9 pounds per person.

However, the USDA considers ice cream different from "low-fat ice cream" (ice milk) and frozen yogurt, none of which existed back in 1946. If we look at the total frozen dairy category as of 2012, American consumed a total of 23.9 pounds of frozen dairy products annually, almost identical to the 24.0 pounds of total frozen dairy products consumed in 1946. In addition to eating 12.9 pounds of ice cream in 2012, we also eat:

  • 6.9 pounds of low-fat ice cream
  • 1.4 pounds of frozen yogurt
  • 0.9 pounds of sherbet
  • 1.8 pounds of other frozen dairy products

It could be that ice cream is starting to make a rebound in market share according to IBISWorld market analyst Andy Brennan based on the new flavors that independent ice cream stores are offering. To learn more about this trend, read Ice cream's sweet outlook - just don't be vanilla, man on the CNBC's website.