Ice cream 2023: per capita consumption in Germany is 7.9 liters
Industrial ice cream manufacturers sold 543.7 million liters of ice cream in Germany in 2023. This corresponds to a decline in volume of -2.4% (2022: 556.8 million liters). By contrast, sales in 2023 rose significantly by 10.5% to € 2.94 billion (2022: € 2.66 billion) due to inflation.
At 7.9 liters, per capita consumption in 2023 also fell slightly compared to 2022 (8.1 liters). In addition to industrially produced ice cream (6.4 liters), the annual per capita consumption of 7.9 liters also includes an estimate for ice cream parlors and soft ice cream (1.5 liters). This reflects the declining market and is within the long-term normal range.
According to the E.I.S. Eis Info Service of the Bundesverband der Deutschen Süßwarenindustrie e.V., the main reasons for the decline in sales were high inflation and the rainy summer months of July and August 2023. The spring of 2023 was also rather unstable, while sunny, high-pressure phases in September extended the summer and thus the pleasure of ice cream. Inflation also had a direct impact on the development of ice cream, with people holding on to their money in 2023. The increased costs for raw materials, personnel, energy, packaging and logistics led to a rise in consumer prices. As a result, the turnover of ice cream has grown significantly faster than sales.
Only the sale of multipacks increased in 2023. By contrast, sales of ice cream from branded ice cream manufacturers in the food service industry (restaurants, cafés, beer gardens) and sales of impulse ice cream such as popsicles, ice cream bars or sandwich ice cream at petrol stations, airports, train stations, kiosks, swimming pools and amusement parks declined in 2023, falling to 46 million liters (2022: 51 million liters). This means that out-of-home sales of ice cream (impulse ice cream and gastronomy) are still significantly below the pre-corona level from 2019 (67 million liters).
However, at 497 million liters, Germans consume by far the largest proportion of ice cream at home, in the garden or on the balcony. At 252 million liters, multi-packs are ahead of household/family packs for the first time with 245 million liters.
"Despite high inflation, consumers continued to enjoy ice cream as a little break from everyday life in 2023," says Dr. Mario Mundorf, Managing Director of the BDSI's Branded Ice Cream Division. "Especially in politically and economically tense times, ice cream moments are indispensable for all consumers."
Note: This article has been translated using a computer system without human intervention. LUMITOS offers these automatic translations to present a wider range of current news. Since this article has been translated with automatic translation, it is possible that it contains errors in vocabulary, syntax or grammar. The original article in German can be found here.
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