Summer is coming and with it the craving for ice cream. That this year will see double-digit increases. Up 22% for the cone on an annual basis as early as May, points out Consumerismo. The price increases of raw materials, from fruit to milk to eggs, ending with sugar, affect the price list of the final product. It follows, according to the Consumerismo analysis, that a small cone of two flavors can cost up to 4 euros in the most touristic areas of Rome.
Under the hot sun it will be difficult to give up the refreshment of a mixed cup, but it could be an obligatory choice. «The average price of ice cream in Italy in May recorded an average increase of +22% compared to the same period in 2022», explains the president of Consumerismo, Luigi Gabriele. Both packaged and fresh products are on the rise, without distinction. “However, the performance of price lists is extremely diversified across the territory,” he points out. «Taking into consideration a 1 kg tray sold in shops, it turns out that Florence is the city with the highest price in Italy, equal to an average of 7.93 euros per kg (but it can reach peaks of 9.66 euro/kg), with an increase of +34% compared to last year, when 5.91 euro was spent on the same quantity of ice cream», it is highlighted. But there are also three other provinces that boast prices above 7 euros per kg: Bolzano (7.20 euros), Ravenna (7.09 euros) and Milan (7.01 euros). Conversely, the cheapest cities are Padua (with an average of 4.55 euros), Siena and Vicenza (4.68 euros).
The problem is the persistence of price increases. To such an extent that central bankers are monitoring price formation dynamics to prevent profit margins from rising. Massimiliano Dona, president of the National Union of Consumers (UNC), is also concerned. Who points out that “ice creams are in third place in the top ten for summer price increases and in eighth place in the general classification”. And in addition to the increase on an annual basis recorded in May, he underlines that compared to two years ago “it is as much as 35.4%”. In view of the summer, Dona does not hide her concern: “We wonder what will happen in July and August when, with the suffocating heat, demand will increase”.