Making Your Own Organic Ice Cream

[ICP]

Is anyone out there currently making your own organic ice cream? How are sales? How much do you have to charge for this ice cream since the price of ingredients keeps rising?

I think in the right market - organic ice cream could really sell well. People are already paying more for gelato - so why not organic ice cream.

Check out these videos I found on organic ice cream. Any thoughts?

Organic Ice Cream News Story

Organic Ice Cream

[Little Tart]

Out here in the Bay area the organic ice cream parlors such as Ici in Berkeley and Bi-Rite in San Francisco cost the same per scoop as the traditional parlors in the area. I am not sure if this is because the organic stores are earning less profit per scoop or what, or what. That is part of what I am researching.

[DanielleO]

I found this article - its not particularly about organic milk but it does speak of the rising prices in the dairy industry and says that ice cream retailers are just absorbing the wholesale price increase as to not raise prices for their customers.


The cost of milk fat, the principal ingredient in ice cream, has jumped 71% during the first six months of 2001, leading manufacturers to raise retail prices from last year by as much as 20% in some instances, triggering a three percent drop in consumption, according to a recent report from Reuters. The report further notes that frozen dessert shop operators have also been raising their prices, often by 10% or more as their volume does not permit them to enjoy the economies of scale available to the big manufacturers.

The industry puts the blames on a new government pricing system. Earlier this month, William Oldenburg, Vice President of Dreyer's Grand Ice Cream called for relief from complicated government regulations tying the price of milk fat to the sky--high price of butterfat, declaring that, "It's bringing the ice cream industry to its knees." T. Gary Rogers, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of Dreyer's, said that the price of dairy raw materials rose and remained high for the first half of 2001 d espite a more-than-adequate supply of milk and plentiful inventories of butter and cheese. "We continue to believe that the current price of cream is economically unjustified and will eventually decrease."

Agriculture Department officials responded to criticism saying the price rise is the result of a seasonal slowdown in milk production. Forbes quotes industry analysts as saying that concerns that hoof-and-mouth disease might ravage dairy herds and create a shortage in the future are driving the current price increase.


A new milk pricing system, adopted in a 1996 farm bill, went into effect in January 2000. It was designed to bring uniformity to covenants that determine how much dairy farmers earn. In the process, the government tied the cost of milk fat to the price of butter, which has nearly doubled since then on increased demand. Wholesale butter prices have soared from $1 per pound in March 2000 to $1.90 per pound in May 2001.

USDA economist Donald Blaney attributed the rise to recent studies indicating butter is not as unhealthy as once thought, increasing competition for milk fat by makers of butter, cheese, and ice cream. But at the same time demand was surging, the new rules also created three price classes for milk fat, from butter on the low end, to cheese and ice cream at the high end.

U.S. Department of Agriculture officials say there are other factors at work besides the price regulation changes, noting that milk fat prices tend to go up in summer, because there's more demand and because cows don't give as much milk in summer because of the heat. Compared to last year dairy supplies are down, while at the same time demand is up, leading to a classic case of supply and demand generating higher prices.

Officials say a gradual climb in ice cream prices in recent years has insulated the industry from seasonal hikes in milk fat prices. However, in some cases, retailers have absorbed wholesale price increases because they fear losing customers if they pass them on. With the economy slowing, many are less willing to continue doing so. That means more price hikes may be coming. This summer, half-gallons of premium ice cream that had previously sold for $3.99 are up to as much as $4.99.

here is a pdf file of a study on the cost of producing organic milk vs regular milk:
http://ageconsearch.umn.edu/bitstream/9680/1/sp07mc01.pdf

[ICP]

Interesting article Danielle. Seems everyone is hurting these days due to the crummy economy. Hopefully things start to get better soon!