Ice Cream Franchise

One of the strongest trends today is Americans' desire for comfort. Whether it's manifesting in the boom in home redecorating or the growing interest in home cooking, it's clear consumers are looking for things that feel safe, familiar, happy. Ice cream fits nicely with this desire for comfort. "Everybody loves ice cream," points out Lynda Utterback, publisher of The National Dipper, a retail ice cream trade publication based in Rolling Meadows, Illinois. "People have good memories related to it, like walking to the local store as a kid on a hot summer day to get ice cream."

The popularity of ice cream is so strong, even the anti-fat movement and national obsession with counting calories isn't enough to deflate it. "When [consumers] want dessert, they're going to save up the calories and have the kind of ice cream treat they want," Utterback says. "The premium and super-premium brands are selling better than the low-fat ice creams are. When people want dessert, they go for the good stuff."

Source: Entrepreneur.com