Ice cream is a frozen dessert typically made from a combination of dairy ingredients such as milk and cream, or plant-based alternatives, mixed with sweeteners, flavorings, stabilizers and air. It is churned while being frozen to create a smooth, palatable texture. Ice cream is consumed across a wide range of occasions, or as part of celebrations and gatherings. It is enjoyed by people of all age groups, from children to adults and is often associated with indulgence and leisure.
The ice cream market consists of sales by entities (organizations, sole traders and partnerships) of ice cream that is consumed in households, used by foodservice establishments and by mobile ice cream vendors.
The global ice cream market reached a value of nearly $105,831.17 million in 2024, having grown at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of 5.60% since 2019. The market is expected to grow from $105,831.17 million in 2024 to $143,386.81 million in 2029 at a rate of 6.26%. The market is then expected to grow at a CAGR of 6.85% from 2029 and reach $199,671.93 million in 2034.
Expansion Of The Foodservice Industry
During the historic period, the ice cream market was mainly driven by the expansion of the foodservice industry. The rapid growth of restaurants, cafes, quick-service outlets and specialty dessert shops provided multiple new consumption avenues for ice cream, transforming it from a household product into an integral part of out-of-home dining experiences. Ice cream became increasingly available as a dessert option in full-service restaurants, as a snack in cafes and as an add-on in fast food chains, catering to both impulse buyers and premium dessert seekers. For instance, as of July 2025, according to Agriculture and Agri-Food Canada, the Canadian government department responsible for policies, programs and research supporting the country's agriculture and agri-food sector, consumer expenditure on foodservice in the United States reached $680.2 billion in 2022, compared to $568.8 billion in 2017, growing at a compound annual growth rate (CAGR) of about 3.6% over the five-year period. This robust expansion highlights the growing role of foodservice channels in shaping consumption patterns and driving demand for frozen desserts, including ice cream. Therefore, expansion of the foodservice industry boosted the ice cream market.
AI-Assisted Product Innovation And Reformulation
Key companies in the ice-cream space are increasingly using artificial intelligence to reimagine their product lines, reduce costs and respond more nimbly to consumer preferences for health, flavors and sustainability. These innovations focus on reformulating existing recipes (lower sugar, cleaner ingredients), predicting flavor combinations and creating line extensions (e.g. plant-based or indulgent variants) more efficiently. For instance, in September 2025, Magnum Ice Cream Company, part of Unilever, announced a collaboration with Chilean startup NotCo to integrate AI in developing new Magnum products, including plant-based versions and reformulating classics to manage calories and address ingredient cost pressures. By leveraging AI, companies aim to accelerate innovation cycles, maintain margin in the face of commodity inflation and deliver products that align with evolving consumer demands.
The global ice cream market is concentrated, with large players operating in the market. The top 10 competitors in the market made up 34.76% of the total market in 2024.
Ice Cream Global Market Opportunities And Strategies To 2034 from The Business Research Company provides the strategists; marketers and senior management with the critical information they need to assess the global ice cream market as it emerges from the COVID-19 shut down.
Reasons to Purchase
- Gain a truly global perspective with the most comprehensive report available on this market covering 15 geographies.
- Understand how the market is being affected by the coronavirus and how it is likely to emerge and grow as the impact of the virus abates.
- Create regional and country strategies on the basis of local data and analysis.
- Identify growth segments for investment.
- Outperform competitors using forecast data and the drivers and trends shaping the market.
- Understand customers based on the latest market research findings.
- Benchmark performance against key competitors.
- Utilize the relationships between key data sets for superior strategizing.
- Suitable for supporting your internal and external presentations with reliable high-quality data and analysis.
Where is the largest and fastest-growing market for ice cream? How does the market relate to the overall economy; demography and other similar markets? What forces will shape the market going forward? The ice cream market global report from The Business Research Company answers all these questions and many more.
The report covers market characteristics; size and growth; segmentation; regional and country breakdowns; competitive landscape; market shares; trends and strategies for this market. It traces the market's history and forecasts market growth by geography. It places the market within the context of the wider ice cream market; and compares it with other markets.
The report covers the following chapters
- Introduction and Market Characteristics - Brief introduction to the segmentations covered in the market, definitions and explanations about the segment by type, by flavor, by packaging, by category and by distribution channel.
- Key Trends - Highlights the major trends shaping the global market. This section also highlights likely future developments in the market.
- Growth Analysis And Strategic Analysis Framework Analysis on PESTEL, end use industries, market growth rate, global historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and drivers and restraints that support and control the growth of the market in the historic and forecast periods, forecast growth contributors and total addressable market (TAM).
- Global Market Size And Growth - Global historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and drivers and restraints that support and control the growth of the market in the historic and forecast periods
- Regional And Country Analysis - Historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and growth and market share comparison by region and country.
- Market Segmentation - Contains the market values (2019-2024) (2024-2029, 2034F) and analysis for each segment by type, by flavor, by packaging, by category and by distribution channel in the market. Historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029) and (2029-2034) market values and growth and market share comparison by region market.
- Regional Market Size and Growth- Regional market size (2024), historic (2019-2024) and forecast (2024-2029, 2034F) market values and growth and market share comparison of countries within the region. This report includes information on all the regions Asia-Pacific, Western Europe, Eastern Europe, North America, South America, Middle East and Africa and major countries within each region.
- Competitive Landscape- Details on the competitive landscape of the market, estimated market shares and company profiles of the leading players.
- Other Major And Innovative Companies- Details on the company profiles of other major and innovative companies in the market.
- Competitive Benchmarking- Briefs on the financials comparison between major players in the market.
- Competitive Dashboard- Briefs on competitive dashboard of major players.
- Key Mergers and Acquisitions- Information on recent mergers and acquisitions in the market is covered in the report. This section gives key financial details of mergers and acquisitions which have shaped the market in recent years.
- Market Opportunities And Strategies- Describes market opportunities and strategies based on findings of the research, with information on growth opportunities across countries, segments and strategies to be followed in those markets.
- Conclusions And Recommendations- This section includes recommendations for ice cream market providers in terms of product/service offerings geographic expansion, marketing strategies and target groups next five years.
- Appendix- This section includes details on the NAICS codes covered, abbreviations and currencies codes used in this report.
Markets Covered:
- 1) By Type: Impulse Ice Cream; Take-Home Ice Cream; Artisanal Ice Cream
- 2) By Flavor: Vanilla; Chocolate; Fruit; Other Flavors
- 3) By Packaging: Cup; Cone; Stick; Brick; Tub; Other Packaging
- 4) By Category: Dairy; Non-Dairy
- 5) By Distribution Channel: Hypermarket Or Supermarket; Ice Cream Parlor; Online Retailer; Other Distribution Channels
- Companies Mentioned: The Magnum Ice Cream Company; Nestle S.A.; Froneri International Limited; Mars Inc.; Ferrero Group (Wells Enterprises Inc.)
- Countries: China; Australia; India; Indonesia; Japan; South Korea; USA; Canada; Brazil; France; Germany; UK; Italy; Spain; Russia
- Regions: Asia-Pacific; Western Europe; Eastern Europe; North America; South America; Middle East; Africa
- Time-series: Five years historic and ten years forecast.
- Data: Ratios of market size and growth to related markets; GDP proportions; expenditure per capita; ice cream indicators comparison.
- Data segmentations: country and regional historic and forecast data; market share of competitors; market segments.
- Sourcing and Referencing: Data and analysis throughout the report is sourced using end notes.