Baskin-Robbins Survey Explores America's Ice Cream Favorites and Frozen Treat Trends

CANTON, Mass., July 10, 2012 /PRNewswire/ -- With National Ice Cream Month in full swing, Baskin-Robbins, the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, commissioned an independent survey of 1,000 U.S. respondents to get the scoop on how Americans plan to enjoy ice cream this summer. According to the survey, 82 percent of Americans plan to enjoy ice cream during National Ice Cream Month this year.

(Logo: http://photos.prnewswire.com/prnh/20100503/NE97472LOGO )

"National Ice Cream Month is a great time to celebrate the special place ice cream has in our lives and to enjoy your favorite flavor with friends and family," said Dan Wheeler, Baskin-Robbins' U.S. Vice President of Brand and Field Marketing. "We're excited to share some insights into America's ice cream preferences from our survey, and to give one of our fans $260 in Baskin-Robbins gift cards through the Baskin-Robbins National Ice Cream Day Twitter Sweepstakes."

We All Scream for Ice Cream

• Seventy-seven percent of respondents said they eat ice cream at least once a month, 42 percent said they eat ice cream at least once a week, and five percent said they eat ice cream every day.
• More than 50 percent of Americans would suffer through a "brain freeze" - the brief headache that results from eating frozen treats too quickly - to enjoy their favorite ice cream.

Cup or Cone?

• Seventy percent of respondents prefer to eat ice cream in a cup rather than on a cone.
• More than 60 percent of Americans prefer hard scoop ice cream to soft serve.

What Takes the (Ice Cream) Cake?

• Ice cream cake "took the cake" when it came to shared desserts, with 32 percent of respondents choosing it as the best option for summer parties over other choices such as brownies, pies or cookies.
• Twenty-eight percent of Americans said cake was the best food to pair with ice cream, followed by 27 percent for brownies. Four percent of respondents said French fries made the best food and ice cream pairing.

Finding Out the Flavor Favorites

• Vanilla and Chocolate were tied for respondents' favorite ice cream flavor, followed by Cookies n' Cream and Mint Chocolate Chip.
• Hot fudge topped the list for favorite ice cream topping, followed by caramel sauce and chopped nuts.

Don't Forget the Napkins

• Regardless of the form in which it's consumed, more than 25 percent of respondents said their children are either covered in ice cream or leave half of it on the floor while eating it, while 20 percent said their kids are "clean as a whistle" while eating ice cream.

National Ice Cream Day Twitter Sweepstakes  
To help celebrate National Ice Cream Day, Baskin-Robbins is holding a Twitter sweepstakes on Sunday, July 15, to give ice cream lovers a chance to win $260 in Baskin-Robbins gift cards, enough to keep the ice cream scoops flowing for a year. On that day, followers of @BaskinRobbins who Tweet their favorite Baskin-Robbins ice cream flavor using the special hashtag #BRflavors will be entered for the chance to win. For official rules and additional details about the sweepstakes, visit www.BaskinRobbins.com or follow @BaskinRobbins on Twitter this Sunday.

For more information about Baskin-Robbins and its wide variety of ice cream flavors and frozen treats available this summer, visit www.BaskinRobbins.com or follow us on Facebook (www.facebook.com/BaskinRobbins) or on Twitter (www.twitter.com/BaskinRobbins).

About Baskin-Robbins  
Named the top ice cream and frozen dessert franchise in the United States by Entrepreneur magazine's 31st annual Franchise 500® ranking, Baskin-Robbins is the world's largest chain of ice cream specialty shops. Baskin-Robbins creates and markets innovative, premium hard scoop ice cream and soft serve, custom ice cream cakes and a full range of beverages, providing quality and value to consumers at more than 6,700 retail shops in nearly 50 countries. Baskin-Robbins was founded in 1945 by two ice cream enthusiasts whose passion led to the creation of more than 1,000 ice cream flavors and a wide variety of delicious treats. For the full-year 2011, Baskin-Robbins' shops had global franchisee-reported sales of approximately $1.8 billion. Headquartered in Canton, Mass., Baskin-Robbins is part of the Dunkin' Brands Group, Inc. (Nasdaq: DNKN) family of companies. For further information, visit www.BaskinRobbins.com.

Survey Methodology 
Weekly online omnibus survey of 1,000 respondents aged 18+ fielded June 29-July 1, 2012 by GfK Customer Research North America. The margin of error for this survey is +/-3 percentage points. 

Contact:
Justin Drake
Dunkin' Brands
781-737-5200
[email protected]

SOURCE Baskin-Robbins