Grocery Store Ice Cream Brands
 

I'm currently in Florida helping my mom out and one of my roles/duties has been procuring groceries. As such, and given my love of ice cream, it should come as no surprise that I've tried pretty much everything on offer at Publix that doesn't spook me (e.g. stuff made with oat milk or cartoonish packaging), so I'm interested in discussing the pros and cons of various brands and flavors.

My typical pattern is to get the weekly BOGO, regardless of brand (except for the only one I've blacklisted, thus far), and try to make the most of it. I usually aim for quart+ size containers (i.e. the brands that choose to distribute with them), so that's what I will open the discussion with.

IRC, at Publix, Winn Dixie, Walmart, and Target, the brands on offer are Breyers, Blue Bell, Blue Bunny, Mayfield, Tillamook, Turkey Hill, and the store brands.

<Slight tangent>One phenomenon I've discovered since I started doing this shopping stuff, that definitely wasn't a thing the last time I shopped in the US pre-COVID, is the emergence of the "frozen dairy dessert". I believe this has do with labeling requirements to be classified as "ice cream" have thresholds that some flavors or entire brands can't clear. In any event, I manage to steer clear of "frozen dairy desserts" completely, by reading labels carefully (it's certainly a product attribute they want to promote so look for gray letters on black or something similarly hidden in plain sight). I'm unable to decree that all "frozen dairy desserts suck" because my entire bias only stems from a single data point; nevertheless, I figured it's best to go with what I know.<end tangent>

Back on topic, following are my thoughts (not exactly a refined culinary review :D ) on each of these:

Breyers
Breyer's was one of the most common grocery store brands when I was a kid in the 80s, and I always liked it, but I think its current rendition is only around my 50th percentile. Well, I suppose I should note that, due to my FDZ ban, I've only been able to buy vanilla and vanilla paired with other sans fillings flavors. The vanilla, chocolate, strawberry, and peach are just okay. But, the fact that this company is too cheap to up the milk content in any of its higher cost flavors suggests to me that they're not shooting for any high bars these days. Note: Their 1 quart containers are definitely smaller than a quart, and the same goes for most of the others too.

Blue Bell
Blue Bell comes in bigger (half gallon?) containers so, when its turn in the rotation comes up, it's $3 off instead of BOGO (effective pricing ends up being the same). I guess it's my overall favorite among the group. None of the flavors are especially interesting, they do a solid job on all of the basics and aren't stingy with fillings.

Blue Bunny
I bought this one once without bothering to look closely, and assumed it was Blue Bell. Suffice it to say, I was wrong; it is at the bottom the list (in fact, it's removed itself from it).

Mayfield
Mayfield is near the top of my list. I like their Butter Pecan, in particular.

Tillamook
I lived in Oregon for a few years, so I'm supposed to hold it in high regard, but I will say that it's definitely a little better than Blue Bell...and similarly boring on the flavor front.

Turkey Hill
This one is similar to Mayfield, but seems to have more gotchya "frozen dairy desserts", so I haven't tried their more involved flavors, but Mayfield is definitely better.

That leaves the store brands. I'll buy any store brand if the only other choice is Blue Bell, but the Publix Premium brand would definitely fall into the top half of my list.

Please share your thoughts and tell us about your own shopping experiences/strategies.

my local acme store often have ice cream on clearance. from time to time, i would find brands like haagan dazs, b&j, open nature at $1+ a pint. i would stock up whenever that happens. the only downside is there is usually only 1 flavor to choose from.

Back in the day, when I was at home and ate ice cream as a child as a daily dessert, we would typically eat store brand H-E-B Creamy Creations (for me, usually Cookies n' Cream) as the Blue Bell listeria scare and higher prices put us off. My grandma used to always serve Blue Bell, but she had her freezer set on a very cold setting so the tubs often had freezer burn.

Now, my mother often eats H-E-B's "upmarket" store brand, Swoon, as she loves the Salted Caramel Truffle flavor. It only comes in pints (I think) and is probably creamier on average. It's not cheap, though.

Breyers was a very different carton of ice cream in the 80s. Its not the same ice cream, in fact when from proper ice cream to frozen dessert of whatever cockamamie phrase they use to delineate that its not proper ice cream and so I never got any. Speaking of Breyers, you know what I loved that they used to make - those Breyers .VIennetta. The Turkey Hill Simply Natural Mint Chocolate Chip (I don't like the regular Turkey Hill) tastes like what the Breyers Mint Chocolate Chip used to taste like once upon a time. I have never tried Mayfield, but since it seems to be highly rated by so many, I should pick up a carton. I recently stumbled onto Tillamook Oregon Cherry and I think that is fantastic if you like Cherry Ice Cream. I find Jenni's to be way too sweet and frankly a little too cute with the type of flavors. I do rather like Van Leeuwen (probably because its nice and eggy), but its pricey, and I only see the pints. I think I have only had Blue Bell once or twice over the years and remember it being decent, but its just not something I come across in the stores.

moondog , if you're willing to splurge, look for Graeter's ice cream at an outpost of "The Fresh Market," if there's one near you. I believe that Graeter's is sold only in pints, and it's not cheap.

Edited to add: Here's the current price of a pint of Graeter's at The Fresh Market in Aventura:

https://cimg1.ibsrv.net/gimg/www.fly...7b2b50eb00.png

TJ's house brand is quite good. Favorite is probably the pumpkin (seasonal).

Frozen dairy desserts do not meet the FDA minimum butterfat content (10%) and/or exceed the air volume limit (50%) for ice cream.

I overdid the ice cream in 2020 and now never buy ice cream at the grocer and it’s rare for me to get it unless it’s froyo which obviously is not ice cream. When our son has guests he’s had me buy these brands at Safeway (Albertsons):

haagen dasz
robbins
ben & jerrys
tillamook

I haven't tried many flavors, but Signature Select (Safeway/Albertsons) makes the best Moosetracks I've ever had. I go out of my way to Safeway to get it. Their rocky road is decent too.

Ice cream seems to be more tied to personal taste than most other foods. Growing up in a family of dairy farmers, we always had at least two flavors in the freezer. One of my uncles (now 80's and healthy as a 30 year old) ate a bowl every day after breakfast. Some comments on the brands mentioned in this thread:

- I agree that Breyer's is NOT the same, or my taste buds have changed significantly since I was a kid in the 80's.
- I had read many good reviews of Turkey Hill. I've given it several tries and haven't been impressed.
- For me, Tillamook is near the top of the brands I've seen in this thread. Haagen-Dazs and B&J's also fine but a little over-priced.
- I'm fairly certain I've liked the Kroger's Private Selection, but may be getting that mixed up with a different store brand, so don't take that as a recommendation.
- I haven't tried Graeter's from the store, but the Graeter's shop in our town is not very good. The ice cream is always very "icy". May have more to do with storage or age than actual product quality, but its too expensive to keep trying.

Advertised as "gelato" (I'm not convinced), Talenti is probably the most disappointing for me.
As a 52-year old kid, I still love me a drumstick or an old fashioned ice cream sandwich, with vanilla between the two chocolate cookies, from time to time.

I usually buy Oberweis, which is the best ice cream I've ever had. It's a local Chicago area brand. Unfortunately, the owner is a lunatic right-winger who periodically runs for governor but his ice cream is good enough that I still buy it. Oberweis lemonade is also really excellent. And their milk is great.

Otherwise, I buy Talenti gelato or Ben & Jerrys.

Kroger Private Selection is a good option IMO, some interesting flavors and good mouth feel. For available grocery store brands around here our top is Blue Bell Homemade Vanilla.

Oberweis Dairy and its assets were sold in a bankruptcy auction in May 2024, to Osprey Capital, a private equity firm.

I was a bit of an ice cream snob so I don't know what made me try the Krogers Private one time but I did and was very impressed. Every flavor I have tried has been very good and unbelievably cheap. I have tried several flavors and they are all excellent. I especially like Moose Tracks Denali and Brown Butter Bourbon truffle and Sea Salt Caramel. I don't usually keep ice cream in the house because I can't be trusted and this thread is killing me. If there was any in the house I would be eating it as I type.

Every time we visit friends in Ohio, they take us to Graeter's. I think it is the most overrated ice cream I've ever tried. I know ice cream is supposed to be sweet, but there is such a thing as cringey too sweet - that's what I think of Graeter's.

If you're near a Wegman's, some of their premium store brand (the pint size) flavors are quite good. I love the cinnamon flavor, and my kid likes their coffee and creme brulee flavors.