Despite some ups and downs in recent years, ice cream remains a staple on many Australian grocery lists, with 73% of Aussie grocery consumers purchasing a tub or carton of ice cream at least once in the last 12 months, Roy Morgan Research said.
While the proportion of grocery buyers who purchase ice cream tubs/cartons on a weekly basis is relatively low (3%), almost one in five (19%) people buy them once a month and 21% buy them every two to three months.
Bulla is the most popular ice cream brand, purchased by 20% of grocery buyers in an average four weeks, followed by Peters (17%) ahead of Streets (12%). Coles (6%) is the most popular of the supermarket brands.
According to the Roy Morgan Single Source (Australia), July 2012–June 2013, the proportions of grocery buyers purchasing the big ice cream brands in an average four-week period remained fairly stable since the same time last year.
However, Streets (12%, up from 10%) and Connoisseur (6%, up from 4%) made noticeable gains.
Angela Smith, Group Account Director, Roy Morgan Research, said: “After four years of decline, the Australian ice cream market has stabilised, with the proportion of grocery buyers purchasing tubs/cartons last year crept up from 72% to 73%. Amid this relatively static market, Connoisseur and Streets ice cream showed the most growth.”
Roy Morgan Research’s in-depth consumer profiling tool, Helix Personas, revealed that New School Cool individuals are 160% more likely than the average Australian to buy Connoisseur ice cream in an average four weeks, while Streets is especially popular among people from the even more affluent Bluechip persona.