One in two consumers eats gelato year-round, survey shows

Gelato Festival tour garners insights into 11-bn euro market

(ANSA) - Florence, September 9 - The fifth annual Gelato Festival is drawing to a close after a tour that took its caravan of 130 ice-cream chefs to several Italian cities and as far as Nice and Amsterdam. The tour covering more than 10,000 kilometers ends September 12-14 in Florence, where 17 gelato auteur finalists will face off in competition to see who can create the most outstanding ice cream. Surveys conducted along the way yielded some insight into the minds and hearts of gelato lovers, who transcend borders and nationalities.

For example, ice cream is second only to pizza and pasta in the collective imagination of what Italian food stands for. As well, responses showed that both in Italy and abroad, a majority of ice cream lovers prefer to get their cone of delight at the ice cream parlor, preferably one that peddles artisanal wares. A small minority gets their ice cream at the bar or takes it home, while 50% of respondents said they eat it year-round and 50% said they only indulge in it in summer.

In Italy, the gelato market still flourishes in spite of recession, with 30,000 ice cream parlors spread evenly throughout the boot catering to a per-capita consumption of 15 kilos of gelato a year. Every year, 900,000 tonnes of gelato are produced and consumed in Italy in a market worth 11.25 billion euros a year.