Chippewa Valley Museum

America's affair with ice cream

Vanilla remains Americans' favorite flavor for ice cream, preferred by 28% in a 1993 study, according to Dairy Management, Inc. Fruit flavors are second at 15%, with nut flavors a close third at 14%. Ice cream with candy mixed in, at 13%, beats out chocolate, in fifth place with 8%. Tied for sixth are Neapolitan and cake/cookie flavors -- both with 7% of the votes. Nearly a third of Amerioan households consume at least one gallon of ice cream and related products every two weeks. Those ice cream products utilize approximately 8% of the milk produced in the U.S.

The dairy promotion boards have the scoop on how much ice cream we eat. In 1993, the year of the most recent figures, Americans ate, on the average, 47 pints of frozen dairy products, 61% of them ice cream. Ironically, the two products that have shown the most significant sales increases during the past few years are super-premium ice cream and frozen yogurt products -- at the opposite extremes, in terms of fat content. Super-premium ice cream runs 16 to 18% milkfat, while regular ice cream is 12 or 13%.

Although the U.S. leads the world in the production of ice cream, New Zealand holds title to eating the most per capita. The Kiwis gobble up almost 40 pints per person, while Americans polish off more like 27.4 pints apiece, for second place. Sweden takes third place honors with 26.9 pints. There's hardly a lick of difference between Sweden and Ireland, a very close fourth.

The U.S.' biggest customer for ice cream in 1993 was a country where most of the population has never tasted ice cream -- Japan. Shipments to that island nation more than doubled between 1991 and 1993, when they hit 10,770 tons. Mexico was the next largest market, taking 6,500 tons, followed by Hong Kong, receiving 3,960 tons. The Japanese eat 2.6 pints apiece per year.

Though ice cream remains a common man's delight, even the movie stars like it. Stephen Bruce, co-owner of the world-famous Serendipity Restaurant, in New York, which has built its tasty reputation on its ice cream creations, says Cher likes hers smothered with hot fudge. Tom Cruise and Nicole Kidman favor frozen hot chocolate with two straws.

Farm families probably won't find any big Hollywood names enjoying ice cream at the Chippewa Valley Museum, but they will find lots of Wisconsin history -- including plenty from agriculture's past.... For more information, call the museum at (715) 834-7871.