COLD COMFORT 2001

BARBARA MURRAY

As retailers expand their winter sets to become more aggressive for the spring and summer, ice cream lovers will cheer to see fuller, fatter space devoted to the premium and super premium varieties.

"We partner up with one of the ice cream companies and go through a whole process of reviewing the category," said Margaret Danzi, frozen food buyer for several regions of A&P, Montvale, N.J.

"This year we have teamed with Haagen-Dazs, the expert in pints and quarts, and Good Humor-Breyers, the market leader as far as half gallons go," Danzi said.

"They have a wealth of information they've been sharing. I cover Long Island, New Jersey, Philadelphia and Baltimore markets, so we had to separate them, look at the demographics, and allocate the space as to premium, super premium and regular," she said. Waldbaum's, A&P and Super Fresh subsidiaries are currently conducting the assortment analysis and stockkeeping unit rationalization to see how the sets shape up.

A report just in to the International Ice Cream Association, Washington, D.C., was "good news for ice cream," said Vice President of Communications Susan Ruland. Total supermarket and supercenter frozen dairy sales grew 2.6% in dollars and 2.5% in gallons from 1999 to 2000, according to the report, which was produced for the IICA by ACNielsen, Schaumburg, Ill.

"These are the most robust gallon increases for the category that we have seen in more than four years," Ruland said. Total size of the frozen dairy desserts category in 2000 was 660 million gallons, worth $4.6 billion.

David Bevilacqua, director of trade development, Piggly Wiggly Co., Memphis, pointed out that with "March being designated frozen-food month, important focus is brought to this department before the peak summer selling season.

"Our store operators are ensuring that the departments are properly staffed, primarily to ensure that product is well stocked and merchandised properly. We look at product variety and planogram as being key to driving sales before and up to the summer selling period. If the operator [Piggly Wiggly has more than 600 operators] is on top of his business, he will evaluate his space each February, March, determine how much he needs to allot to ice cream and novelty, and make those adjustments," he said. "Especially since ice cream and novelties have an extremely high penetration (92% for ice cream, 72% for novelties), it certainly affords an opportunity to pull traffic into the frozen-food department and to maximize that business, through advertising, merchandising and out-of-stock control," he added.

Packaged ice cream sales, including sherbet and frozen yogurt, make up about 80% of the frozen dessert category, Ruland told SN. And, sales always go up by about one-third into the summer, she added.

Jeff Quintana, executive director of sales for Unified Western Grocers, Los Angeles, said the premium and super premium lines are the only part of the category that is growing. Sets will be expanded, and new items reviewed, prior to conducting an actual expansion late this month and into April.

Demand for the caramel/vanilla Dulce de Leche flavor and any type of a coffee or cappuccino just won't quit, Quintana said, and anything with a chip in it is also hot.

He and another ice cream buyer said there really isn't much of a trick to selling lots of ice cream when it's hot outside -- the better test of an ice cream retailer or category manager is to increase sales in the winter.

"We continue to see people changing to more indulgent-type product that they try to consume in moderation," said a Midwestern category manager who did not wish to be identified. "People continue to seek out more indulgent product. We have increased the space on our super premium ice cream, like Haagen-Dazs, Dreamery (from Edy's) and Ben & Jerry's. That's where the category is going. And the new gelato items will be big in the superpremiums," he predicted.

In premium ice cream, private label is increasing its market share, noted the Midwestern category manager, but only for retailers who have improved the quality and are targeting that more indulgent consumer.

Stores supplied by Associated Grocers, Baton Rouge, La., began rolling out President's Choice premium private label line last August, according to Jennifer Seaux, director of marketing for Associated Grocers, who believes the addition helps make the participating stores "destinations." The wholesaler now carries around 300 of the line's 1,000 items, including some unique flavors of ice cream, like Root Beer Float and Tiramisu. "It's got all the butterfat, it's a super premium, but it is a special offering and it does leave room for Shurfine as the value offering," Seaux said.

The fat-free, low-fat segment has been declining for over a year now, Danzi said, adding that she has asked herself how this can be given the interest in health that shoppers claim to have. The manufacturers she has spoken with tell her it's because of the economy, and because people want to reward themselves.

"We have experienced the same double-digit growth in super premium," Danzi continued. "Waldbaum's demographics are a perfect match with the Haagen-Dazs consumer. We do well with Haagen-Dazs on Long Island and in the A&P stores, while Ben & Jerry's is stronger in the West and South."

A&P divisions keep from 15 to 30 doors on all ice cream. "We just opened up a store that has 28 doors. It's neck-and-neck with dinners and entrees for the highest retail in our frozen-food department." Ice cream, she said, is one of the most profitable categories.

Figures from Information Resources Inc., Chicago, for the year ended Dec. 31, 2000, show private label as the top "brand" or vendor, but dropping slightly, by 3% in dollars and 5% in units; it's followed by Breyers and Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream in a very close race. Rounding out the top 10 are Blue Bell Creameries, Haagen-Dazs, Ben & Jerry's, Well's Blue Bunny Ice Cream, Turkey Hill, and Dreyer's Edy's Grand Light Ice Cream and Healthy Choice Ice Cream, with declines of 7% in dollars and 8% in units.

Healthy Choice is using Splenda as a sweetener in an effort to regain share, the Midwestern buyer noted. It's not on shelves yet, he said, but it's coming. "In ice cream, it's hard to tell the difference between Splenda and sugar," he said.

Ironically, said Bevilacqua, while Piggly Wiggly brand packaged ice cream accounts for about 25% of unit sales in the category, growth in the national brands has outpaced the store label, probably because of the indulgent factor and the strong economy. However, he said the private label does provide a point of difference to the consumer, and vanilla accounts for about 40% of private label sales.

America's Choice vanilla was rated fifth by Consumer Reports magazine last summer, Danzi said. In store brand, "we don't even have a yogurt or a light, just the full fat."

In the Bay Area, the Frozen Food Council of Northern California's spring promotion involves ice cream -- Haagen-Dazs Gelato this time -- in its tie-in with the San Francisco Zoo and its Penguin Island. "We assist as a sponsor of Adopt-An-Animal, particularly penguins," said Jay Prisco, administrator of the council. Penguins are the mascot of March, National Frozen Food Month, and figure prominently in the logos available from the National Frozen Food Association, Harrisburg, Pa.

The really big ice cream month promotion, for July, breaks in the last week of June, Prisco said, so that the retailer ads are out in time for the Fourth of July. Last year's summer promotion was the first to "reach out of the box," Prisco said, meaning it included non-frozen products like Keebler ice cream cones, Smucker's toppings, and Mug root beer. The council plans to do the same this year, he said. Newspaper ads will run in the Sunday comics, and the promotion uses Six Flags amusement park tickets as prizes. Radio ads also support it, and, of course, the Council's Web site, located at www.peterpenguin.com

At Clements' Marketplace, Portsmouth, R.I., prominent display space is given to the products of Newport Creamery, with half gallons in a prime three-sided endcap.

"I gave it to them for a couple reasons," explained Mark Clements, frozens buyer. "Number one was the wide variety of flavors, and it's a very popular ice cream here on Aquidneck Island. I carry every flavor they make, 28 flavors."

The "Awful Awful" (as in, "awful good, awful easy") frozen thick shake mix is $4.89 a half gallon, while Newport Creamery's half-gallons of ice cream were $4.49. The endcap has a decorative, antique brass scale up top, to lend ambiance to the aisle.

The Awful, Awful mix is a milkshake signature item for Newport Creamery, Clements explained. "They've been making them in their ice cream shops for years. Now, they have come out with a retail pack so customers can take it home. It is absolutely an indulgent product," Clements said. "Probably a good 30 grams of fat per 12-ounce serving.

"It's a very unique item. You scoop it into a glass, give it a few minutes to soften, add milk a little at a time, and stir it, adding milk to the consistency you want. You don't need a blender. It's excellent and sells well in vanilla, chocolate, coffee, and cookies and cream, although the Newport Creamery restaurants have more flavors, like six or eight," he said.

Clements said he felt the Newport Creamery items were better positioned in this showcase endcap than in a coffin, because it puts out such a large selection that it would have taken up most of the coffin space. And, sales on their product are pretty good, he added.