Memorial Day weekend is the unofficial start of summer, which means it could also be considered the unofficial start of ICE CREAM season.
The International Dairy Foods Association recently conducted a survey, where 97% of Americans reported “loving” or “liking” ice cream. They asked people for their favorite flavors, and despite the silly stuff some creameries are doing . . . like mac-and-cheese ice cream . . . America likes the CLASSIC flavors.
Vanilla is #1, followed by Chocolate . . . Strawberry . . . Butter Pecan . . . Cookie Dough . . . Cookies and Cream . . . Mint Chocolate Chip . . . Chocolate Chip . . . Rocky Road . . . and Peanut Butter. Caramel just missed the Top 10 at #11, followed by Coffee . . . Brownie . . . Moose Tracks . . . Birthday Cake . . . Cherry or Black Cherry . . . Neapolitan . . . Pistachio . . . Banana . . . and Fudge Swirl.
The LEAST popular flavor of the ones they asked about was . . . Lavender. Others that did NOT get much love include: Green Tea, Matcha, Maple, Orange, Spumoni, and Rum Raisin.
HOT FUDGE is America’s favorite topping. Our second favorite topping is whipped cream, followed by caramel sauce . . . chocolate sauce . . . nuts . . . sprinkles . . . chocolate chips . . . and cherries.
They also asked what “container” for ice cream people preferred . . . and waffle cone was the top response. 29% of people would opt for that. A simple bowl was the runner-up at 27%. Sugar cones were next, followed by “waffle bowls.” 9% of people prefer to eat it straight out of the carton. 7% like putting their ice cream in a cup or mug, and 6% have a thing for “cake cones. 1% of people said “something else.”