Foodbuy Supplier Showcase 2023 — Meet Peters Ice Cream

The Inside Scoop on Getting Set for Summer

If we are to believe the news reports, this summer is set to be a scorcher and with this hot weather comes the need to cool down. We’d be stating the obvious by saying that the Ice Cream category peaks during the summer months but the hardest part of selling ice cream during this period is keeping the freezers stocked full of the favourites! Refreshment products like The Peters Frosty Fruit Tropical and the new Fruit Stack peak during this period, with almost 40% of sales occurring during the summer months. But what else is hot during those summer months? At Peters Ice Cream, they have a range of products to suit all needs and occasions.

Premiumisation in ice cream has been a big trend over the last few years and the Indulgence segment now makes up over a third of Impulse sales. But what we have started to see is the merging of indulgence and snacking – a trend we can see playing out across many different categories.

“At Peters, we couldn’t think of a better brand than our Connoisseur brand, the number 1 brand in the ice cream market – to bring this trend to life for the ice cream category. This is where our exciting launch of Connoisseur Laneway Sweets has evolved from. We have taken well-loved sweets and treats that you might discover down laneways across the country and added the Connoisseur flair to create our most indulgent range yet. Following the successful launch of  Connoisseur Laneway Sweets  Salted Pretzel in October 2022, we have recently launched  Connoisseur Laneway Sweets Golden Blondie.”

With the rise of snacking as a macro food trend, it’s no surprise that snacking products within the ice cream category continue to perform extremely well. Their Drumstick and Maxibon brands are 2 of the most popular snacking brands and continue to perform strongly.

The biggest brand for Peters is Maxibon, an offer that strongly resonates with convenience shoppers. Maxibon continues to go from strength to strength in the market. They know that the Maxibon tribe love it when they innovate the biscuit end of the product and their NPD, which launched in July 2022, completely delivered on this.

“Maxibon Waffle On is one of our most innovative creations, EVER. Inspired by an iconic brekkie fave. Watch out in 2024 for some more exciting news for Maxibon!”

Drumstick is the leading cone offer in the market and has a strong classic range of flavours as well as a rotating range of NPD to generate excitement through summer each year. In January 2023, to mark Drumstick’s 60th birthday, the team partnered with Clean Up Australia to help protect Aussie summer moments in our beautiful landscapes.

Drumstick pledged $250,000 to Clean Up Australia, which went towards Clean Up kits, and called upon fellow Aussies to help ‘Clean Up Our Summer’ through a mass campaign. Drumstick also launched three new flavours each paying homage to an iconic summer location. Each limited edition flavour extended the invitation to clean up via an on-pack QR code. The collaboration was hugely successful and made a major impact on Clean Up Australia with over a 30% increase in registrations vs. the prior year and achieved record numbers on Clean Up Australia Day. Drumstick is extremely proud to continue its partnership with Clean Up Australia in 2024 to continue to help tackle Australia’s waste challenge.

As if that wasn’t enough, we have to talk about their iconic Cadbury^® range. Their core chocolate-coated sticks, made up of Cadbury^® Dairy Milk^® Vanilla and Caramilk^®, have gone from strength to strength. Supported by a strong campaign through 2023, they continue to remind consumers that their favourite Cadbury^® chocolate is also available in a delicious frozen treat! And watch out for a new addition to the range in early 2024!

Another trend we have seen is a societal tendency to hark back to ‘better times’. As our lives are overrun with information, responsibilities and commitments, nostalgia is a means to remember when things were simpler and call on fond memories as a means of escape. What better way to do this than with a scoop of Peters ice cream?

“Our scoop ice cream flavours offer not only the well-loved classics but also more on-trend flavours such as Hokey Pokey and Rainbow Swirl for the big and little kids!”

Ice Cream is highly impulsive (64% of purchases are unplanned**), and seeing Point of Sale, the Freezer or other marketing activations can help trigger the desire for Ice Cream. Ice cream is often eaten immediately after purchase, so it is imbued with a sense of joy and anticipation even at the point of purchase. Therefore, an emotive point of sale along the path to purchase can drive conversion to purchase.  Watch out for the exciting above-the-line campaigns, as well as in-store activations as we hit the summer months!

*Circana Australian Convenience Scan to 22/10/23 **Circana Australian Convenience and Grocery Scan to 22/10/23
^Peters independent research conducted May 2022