NIS 23 per scoop: The price of Israel's beloved summer treat

The State of Israel is characterized by summer weather most of the year, while the winter days are relatively short and pleasant. Despite these conditions, the Israeli consumer does not stop consuming ice cream even during the cold winter days. Although there is a noticeable decrease in consumption between the months of December and March, consumption continues even in the winter seasons, and the demand for ice cream products remains high. The average Israeli consumer consumes about 8 liters of ice cream per year, which places Israel among the leading countries in the world in ice cream consumption per capita. Ice cream has a special place in the daily life of the Israeli consumer and its meaning goes beyond mere indulgence.

For many, ice cream is used as a way of recreation, emotional compensation, and as a response to emotional eating. No less than that, the ice cream is considered the official refreshment on hot days, and offers a pleasant and happy relief.

In addition, the Israeli consumer does not skimp on the pleasure of consumption. There is a clear preference for premium products and maintaining high quality. The wide variety of flavors, the quality of the ingredients and investment in the consumer's experience mean that ice cream in Israel is a symbol of quality and irreplaceable indulgence.

The ice cream market in Israel is divided into three main segments: ice cream parlors, purchase at the supermarket and unplanned consumption at kiosks and convenience stores.

The ice cream parlor market - this segment includes quality ice cream parlors that provide products for leisure and entertainment. In recent years, home deliveries from ice cream parlors have become especially common, allowing consumers to enjoy quality ice cream in the comfort of their own home. The ice cream parlors offer a wide variety of flavors, including unique and seasonal flavors, and emphasize the importance of using fresh, high-quality ingredients.

Buying family ice cream packages - in the retail marketing chains you can find family ice cream packages, which also include ice cream packages and individual products. This segment is characterized by more favorable prices per 100 grams compared to the individual products for personal consumption, and is an excellent solution for home consumption and sharing among family members. The chains offer a variety of brands and flavors, including dairy-free and sugar-free products, to meet different consumer needs.

Unplanned consumption - this segment focuses on impulse products purchased in a variety of places such as convenience stores, beaches, cafeterias at the pool, and special stores for snowmen. In recent years, there has been significant growth in this area, as consumers are looking for quick and immediate solutions for pampering and refreshment during the day.

The price per 100 grams of the individual products in this segment is significantly higher than family packs, but consumers are willing to pay more for the convenience and availability.

"The ultimate compensation" - ice cream has an important component in emotional eating, and is seen as refreshing and indulgent. Beyond that, the ice cream serves as an immediate response to emotional needs and gives a feeling of comfort and joy. Although there are also products without milk or sugar, most consumers prefer the high-quality and rich-flavored products, which provide a complete and enjoyable consumption experience.

The ice cream market in Israel generates more than a billion and a half NIS a year, reflecting the unceasing love of consumers for ice cream products. In the field of packaged products, the two giant companies - Unilever and Osem - with the ice cream brands Strauss and Nestlé, account for more than 70% of the market shares. This figure emphasizes their dominance and the great loyalty of consumers to the leading brands.

Although we usually don't find in the shopping lists the special line for the purchase of ice cream or ice cream, these products almost always enter the shopping cart. This is thanks to the strategic location of the ice cream freezers near the cash registers in the marketing chains, which remind consumers to add a sweet treat to the shopping cart at the last minute. The wide variety of popular products ranges from unbranded ice creams costing NIS 1  to premium ice creams costing about NIS 20 .

The average price for a shelgon is about NIS 10 per person, which shows the popularity and accessibility of the products to consumers at all economic levels. In the last year, we have witnessed a significant development of stores and chains dedicated to selling ice cream, which offer attractive promotions that make it difficult for consumers to resist and tempt them to fill their shopping basket with a wide variety of products. Following the increasing competition from these stores, the retail food chains also began to advertise attractive promotions in an attempt to preserve their market shares.

The average price in the convenience stores has also leveled off, mainly thanks to consumers' growing awareness of prices and cost of living issues. The growing competition and the renewed price awareness among consumers means that the convenience stores also have to offer competitive prices to keep their customers. The ice cream parlor market in Israel includes a number of leading brands, which have become household names, for example the Golda chain, as well as packaged brands such as Strauss (brands such as Magnum and Creamisimo), Nestlé (La Carmeria, Hagen Daz, Kranz), Ben & Jerry's. Feldman, Rio, Mojo and Tamara.

Popular flavors

According to the data of the Central Bureau of Statistics (CBS), the favorite flavor of the Israeli consumer is the chocolate flavor, with the vanilla flavor coming in second place. However, in a study carried out by the Retail Research Institute in 2022, it was found that the vanilla flavor is the most preferred, followed by The flavor of chocolate. Other flavors such as strawberry and caramel also occupy a prominent place in the list of consumers' preferences.

One of the most surprising phenomena in the ice cream market in recent years is the popularity of the pistachio flavor, and children and youth have not particularly connected to it The launch of Pistachio Crunch, which managed to captivate the majority of ice cream consumers in Israel, the pistachio gained a status of honor in the market, when wide exposure on social networks led to a huge demand that exceeded the supply of the Nestlé company significantly.

As a result, we have seen continuous innovation to incorporate pistachio flavors in almost every segment of the food products, including dairy products, cookies, waffles and pastries, the comeback attempt with the cornflakes milk flavor did not present the first success and now with a successful marketing experience Crunch Taam Red Bamba already shows deficiencies in the points of sale part of the launch process. In the market of impulse products, the two leading brands are the Magnum series and the Crunch series. In the field of family packaged products, the leading brands are Strauss' Cremisimo and Nestlé's La Carmeria.

Ben & Jerry's products lead the market in premium products, Ben & Jerry's company recognized the trend of increased consumption in the marketing chains for packaged impulse products, Ben & Jerry's penetration of the snowball legends market shows a significant leap much higher than the trend of the general growth of the market The products of the Feldman ice cream company constitute a significant market share in the ultra-Orthodox and Arab markets. Feldman's advantages in these markets stem from the types of qualifications and the appropriate price levels, which allows it to stand out in a market characterized by larger families.

How much does it cost us?

We set out to check how much we would pay for a kilogram of ice cream at the various ice cream parlors and how much we would pay for a single scoop of ice cream. We also checked how much a family ice cream would cost us at the neighborhood supermarket and how much a pampering ice cream would cost us at the convenience store. The findings show significant differences in prices that managed to worry us.

Comparing the prices between the ice cream parlors, the supermarkets and the convenience stores brings up alarming disparities. While the prices in ice cream parlors and convenience stores are relatively high, the supermarkets offer products at more affordable prices. These differences reflect the differences in quality, convenience and consumption experience, but also emphasize the need for wise consumerism and an informed choice of the various ice cream products.

Ice cream prices in supermarkets

In the neighborhood supermarkets, you can find family packs of ice cream at lower prices. The average price for a family ice cream package of one liter is about NIS 20. Additional promotions and discounts make the product more available and accessible to many families, which allows the consumer to enjoy quality ice cream at an affordable price.

Low prices in convenience stores

In the convenience stores, premium ice creams such as Magnum and Crunch are sold at higher prices, with the price per ice cream ranging from NIS 7 to 15, depending on the type and brand. The difference between the prices in the convenience stores compared to the supermarkets is striking, and is mainly due to the ease of purchase and the immediate availability of the products.

Ice cream prices in ice cream parlors

In ice cream parlors, the price per kilogram of ice cream can reach 180 NIS and even more. These are unique cases and toppings and it depends on what weight you want, when the price of a single scoop of ice cream ranges from 18 to 25 NIS. The high prices are explained by the high quality of the products and the unique consumption experience offered by these ice cream parlors.

It turns out that for a treat for the soul we are willing to pay a premium for the price and we will pay less attention to the health components but to the quality and pleasure as long as it is a product that gives us personal value and does not replace the nutrients for our livelihood.