Ever smaller ice creams, ever higher prices: an increase of 40% in five years. This is what emerges from a survey by Altroconsumo: ice cream sticks that fit in the palm of your hand and cones that, summer after summer, are visibly decreasing in number.

According to ISTAT data, ice cream prices have increased by 39.6% in just five years. The first real surge was recorded in 2022, with prices jumping 13% compared to the previous year. A similar situation occurred in 2023, when prices rose again, rising a further 16% compared to 2022. This phenomenon is also observed for other food products, as demonstrated by the latest survey on pizza and soft drink prices conducted in April, which found increases of up to 26% compared to 2021.

Ice cream prices have increased more than food inflation

This extraordinary growth is mainly linked to the energy and logistics crisis: in the two-year period 2022-2023, food prices recorded a historic increase in Italy, with average annual inflation for these goods of +8.8% in 2022 and +9.8% in 2023. According to data, ice cream prices increased more than food inflation.

Shrinkflation also in ice cream

Among the reasons behind ice cream price increases is shrinkflation, the phenomenon that shrinks product packaging but not its price. And it's true that some iconic ice creams have changed their format over the years.

Which ice creams have become smaller (with increasing prices)

To give some examples, consider that five years ago, a Magnum Classic weighed 79 grams; today, it has lost 4 grams, and its final weight is 75 grams. The same goes for Coppa del Nonno: five years ago, the product contained 72 grams; today, it weighs 65 grams. Maxibon currently weighs 96 grams, but in five years, it has lost 6 grams (in 2021, it weighed 102 grams). However, this weight loss has led to an increase in the price per portion: to purchase a Magnum Classic, we spend 26% more today than five years ago, 43% more for a Maxibon, and 25% more for Coppa del Nonno. This means that the increase in prices per kilo is even higher than those per portion: compared to 2021, the price of Maxibon has increased by 53%, followed by Coppa del Nonno (+38%) and Magnum Classic (+32%).

Could this phenomenon be linked to nutritional factors?

As with some packaged snacks, where portion sizes were reduced to encourage people to consume fewer calories and fat, it was assumed that a similar rationale was behind the reduction in ice cream packaging. But in reality, if we look at the data, we see that this isn't the case.

Fewer grams, but almost the same calories

The nutritional benefits of reducing portion sizes are limited or subject to conflicting interpretations. Calories per serving are in fact the same, or slightly lower, and total fat and saturated fat are often the same as in 2021, as is evident from the comparison.

The reasons for the high price of ice cream

How then can we explain the reasons for the high ice cream prices? The situation is much more complex than it seems. It's extremely difficult to determine how much of the impact is due solely to shrinkflation and how much to inflation, which is always present in a system, whether natural or extraordinary. And it must be considered that the ice creams that have seen a reduction in size are the minority. While even from an experiential standpoint, a consumer might notice the difference and be disappointed, we cannot ignore the fact that, regardless of the format change, prices would have increased anyway.

(Unioneonline/E.Fr.)

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