My wife and are a lot like many other people in that we enjoy a good bowl of ice cream. It’s really a great treat. I always love the kinds that contain a lot of chunks and pieces of things, like brownie pieces or peanut butter cups. My two favorites are probably Moosetracks and Cake Batter, but I seriously don’t think there’s a flavor I don’t like. Oh boy, I’m getting myself all worked up just talking about it.
Anyway, a curious thing has happened recently. I’m not sure when exactly this “thing” started happening, but I know it’s been going on for a while now. A couple of months ago, we were at the grocery store and picked up a carton of ice cream. I think they had Breyer’s brand ice cream on sale that week, so we bought a carton. It was chocolate chip cookie dough or something like it…
A couple of nights later my wife and I opened it up and scooped ourselves each a bowl. We noticed it just wasn’t quite right. No, it wasn’t rotten or anything like that. It wasn’t that we picked out a bad flavor. I don’t know if it was the consistency of the ice cream or what, but something was just “different” and not as good as what we had been used to with ice cream. It wasn’t as creamy or something. Upon further inspection of the ice cream carton, we noticed that this was not “ice cream”. No, instead this was “frozen dairy desert”.
Corporate Cost Cutting
I had to read the carton several times before it really sunk in. Apparently this is some kind of cost saving move by the company. In an attempt to reduce the cost of their ingredients, they are using more artificial components and less milk and cream. I guess this explains the name change. You can’t call something “ice cream” if it no longer contains cream.
I like to think I’m pretty business-minded. I have an accounting degree and an MBA. Does Breyer’s seriously think they can make large-scale changes to their product lineup and not have people notice? My wife and I noticed after taking one bite of the new “frozen dairy desert”. Sure, the casual grocery store customer probably isn’t going to notice that the carton reads “frozen dairy desert” instead of ice cream at first. But after they buy it one time and are disappointed, what are the odds that they’re going to buy it again? I know my wife and I haven’t bought another carton of Breyer’s ice cream since then.
I know that business do marketing surveys and testing before rolling out wholesale product changes. They had to know that consumers weren’t going to like the new product as well, especially because it’s not really any less expensive than the competing brands that are still “ice cream”. I’m sure they ran some financial models and told themselves that it would all work out, and consumers wouldn’t mind. But I think they made a mistake.
I’m hopeful that the other major brands aren’t going to follow suit, but we make sure to read all the cartons when buying ice cream now. When I’m buying ice cream, that’s exactly what I want: “Ice Cream”. No frozen dairy desert for me.
9 comments
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Holly@ClubThrifty
March 13, 2013 at 12:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Greg’s lactose intolerant….so we never have ice cream in this house anyway =/
Tackling Our Debt
March 13, 2013 at 3:00 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
You guys are ice cream experts just like me, and you can spot a bad product instantly. Breyers started selling their “frozen dairy dessert” here in Canada some time last year. And it was typically on sale for $3.99. What a deal I thought, until I tried it. My thought when it comes to ice cream is that if I am going to eat those carbs and calories they better damn well be worth it and “frozen dairy dessert” is not worth it at all.
We have started buying a brand that is made here in Canada by a family known as Chapmans. They have huge variety of flavors as well and are definitely a premium brand, and sometimes they are on sale at Walmart.
Mo' Money Mo' Houses
March 13, 2013 at 3:34 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
Even the name doesn’t sound appetizing. I guess you really do have to read every little thing on the container because those big companies can be sneaker.
Lance @ Money Life and More
March 13, 2013 at 7:54 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I thought you were going to say the size of the packages had been shrinking! This is even more shocking. I remember eating Breyer’s as a kid but now I won’t get it if I get ice cream. Thanks for the warning.
Canadianbudgetbinder
March 13, 2013 at 10:48 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
We don’t really buy ice cream but that’s not surprising at all about the name change it’s like when some companies replace names with “style” so you are getting a certain version of something but it’s not the real thing. I posted on Facebook to see what my fans have to say about this and how well they read labels. Cheers!
Beth @ Aunt B's Kitchen
March 14, 2013 at 12:23 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
This kind of change is pervasive, not just in the ice cream aisle. Label reading is more important than it’s ever been. If you can manage it, the best solution is to cook from scratch. Home cooking gives you more control over the quality of what your ingredients, and it’s usually less expensive too. The idea of making things from scratch can seem intimidating but things are often simpler to make than they seem. Ice cream’s a particularly good case in point: It’s very simple to make with just a little prior planning. It tastes amazing and, once you master the basics, it’s infinitely variable. It’s fun to make too.
John S @ Frugal Rules
March 14, 2013 at 10:07 am (UTC -4) Link to this comment
They’ve actually been doing this for the last year or so. I’ve read about this in Consumer Reports a number of months ago and it’s just crazy. Not to mention the fact that the new things they’re putting in it are even more unhealthy than normal ice cream. One of our clients is a milk/dairy company and I am sad to say it’s probably going to be more prevalent.
The Norwegian Girl
March 14, 2013 at 5:19 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
I´ve been thinking of getting a ice cream maker for this summer, it would be lovely to make ice cream with only a couple ingredients, compared to that they sell in the stores…
Christine Weadick
March 14, 2013 at 8:08 pm (UTC -4) Link to this comment
If you think that is on the nasty side, have a good look at a package of ‘Cool Whip’…. whipped cream it’s not…. by a long shot!! How appetizing does ‘Eatable Oil Product’ sound???? I’ll get out my ice cream maker and mixer so I can have real ice cream and whipped cream thank you very much!!!