New Zealanders just love ice cream

We all know how essential ice-cream is on a hot summer’s day, and no matter where you are in New Zealand, finding one is never really a problem. But it hasn’t always been this easy, as apparently (way back when) Roman emperors would send slaves up to the mountain tops to fetch fresh snow, which they flavoured and ate as an early form of ice-cream.  As you can imagine, this dessert remained a rare and exotic delicacy, strictly reserved for emperors and leaders. Thankfully ice cream is now mass-market – becoming a consumer product in the mid-1800’s and hitting New Zealand shores in 1931.

We may have been late to the game but since then, Kiwis have adopted this creamy treat and now consume incredible amounts.  According to the New Zealand Ice Cream Manufacturing Association, New Zealanders consume an annual average of 23 litres per capita, making this little nation of ours amongst the biggest ice cream eaters in the world.  In fact, according to Statistics New Zealand, $1 out of every $44 of our food spend is spent on ice cream.

Ice cream satisfaction

So, when we’re cruising the freezer section of the local supermarket in search of the perfect ice cream, what is it about this frozen treat that really hits the spot?  According to the consumers we asked, the key drivers of their ice cream satisfaction are:

•         Taste 41%
•         Variety / range 23%
•         Value for money 18%
•         Packaging appeal 17%

For 28% of people, selecting their ice cream is a straightforward affair as they tend to buy the same brand every time, but for others, the chance to try other brands and different flavours is too hard to resist.  For some, eating ice cream is even a nostalgic experience with 39% of people saying it brings back memories ranging from thoughts of summer, their childhood or spending time with their family. Nice, eh?

And favourite flavour?  After all these years, our very own, iconic, Hokey Pokey is still clinging to top spot.

How is ice cream made?

Generally speaking, ice cream is a combination of milk, sweeteners, plant-based stabilisers (usually corn syrup) and sometimes egg.

These key ingredients are whipped together in a mixing tank where the products are heated and pasteurised to kill off any germs. The mix then passes through a homogeniser to break down the fats to give ice cream a smooth texture.

The mixture is then cooled to around 2 degrees and left to partially thicken. Once the ice cream has thickened, any flavours and sweeteners are added. The final product is then poured into tubs and stored in a freezer to harden before being shipped off to your local supermarket. Of course, this is a very general explanation and each company will have its own unique methods.

A few fun ice cream facts

• The biggest ice cream sundae was created in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada in 1988. It weighted 24 tons.
• Waffle cones were invented during the 1904 World’s Fair in St. Louis, when large demand forced an ice cream vendor to find help from a nearby waffle vendor. Together they made history.
• Most profitable day for ice cream sellers is almost always Sunday.
• Hawaii is a home to the “ice cream bean”, a type of fruit that tastes like vanilla ice cream.