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:

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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.

Sugar content will vary among flavors, but for mint chocolate chip, a pint of Graeter's and a pint of Wegmans each contain the same amount of sugar: 96 grams. (How sweet each one tastes is, of course, subjective.)

I've always liked Graeter's black raspberry chocolate chip; and I've only ever bought it at Wegmans.
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It isn't solely the sugar content that determines sweetness. Add ½ cup of sugar to lemon juice, the sugar / lemon combo will balance the flavors. Add ½ of sugar to a few strawberries, and you'll likely end up with something gaggably sweet.

If you look at Graeter's mint chocolate chip ingredients, you'll see why it is cloyingly sweet:The oil and gums can emphasis sweetness, and there's also the question of why the hell do they put soy oil in ice cream?
Wegman's mint chocolate chip (pint version), which has a more balanced flavor:

Tillamook hands down! Soft yet creamy and has body

Have you visited a store since then? I thought I saw some or all of the stores remained open after the sale. Our closest is in Glenview, but haven't been by there in a while.

Ok, I must have remembered correctly about the Kroger brand then. Couldn't remember if it was that one or Jewel (Albertson's). I'm going to buy it next time and pay more attention. But ultimately they'll probably all be a single brand one day anyway.

I knew I didn't like Graeter's but this seals it for me. Never looked at ingredients since I've only bought it at the Graeters' stores. There are two of them near us, but if I drive 5 minutes further, I can be at Homer's which is delicious -- https://www.homersicecream.com/
If you find yourself in the north suburbs of Chicago, This is the way.

I have not. They don't have any stores near West Loop, where my daughter lives. I used to go to Black Dog Gelato in West Loop when I visit, but that location has closed. I now get ice cream or gelato at Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams or Amorino; yeah, I know, those are not grocery store brands.

If you'll note, the soy oil in Graeter's (the parenthesis is doing a lot of the work) is part of the chocolate chip ingredient. As their chip flavors are their raison d'etre, you need to avoid them if you are concerned. For those unfamiliar, their chip flavors have random chunks and lumps of soft-textured chocolate (almost a truffle consistency) rather than an even scattering of hard chocolate pellets or even scattering of flaky chocolate. It would be more like an extrusion of chocolate at the very end of freezing rather than a churning with the chocolate incorporated.

Love the stuff (went to University of Cincinnati----a night out then was Skyline for dinner and Graeters for dessert) and have the locations along I-75 scoped out

Soft textured chocolate = a whole lot of added fats/oils, often to disguise low quality/alkali chocolate. I've done candy / chocolate /truffle making for a lot of years, and I know the tricks some use to disguise low quality products.

The list of ingredients in their "chocolate" chips alone is enough to make me avoid their flavors containing "chocolate" chips, but the guar and carob bean gums just don't belong in decent ice cream at all. They price like ultra premium ice cream, have a taste and texture like discount store off-brand products.

Chacun à son goût.

I tried GreenWise Organic Ice Cream from Publix on a recent trip to Florida. Vanilla and Salted Caramel. I was favorably impressed.

I thought that they used softened chocolate so you don't break a tooth biting into it...chocolate freezes pretty hard.

In 1993 Bryers was acquired by Unilever. It hasn't been the same.

The Turkey Hill All Natural line is as close to the old Bryer's recipes as you can get. IMHO regular Turkey Hill is not as good as the all natural.

Both pre Unilever Bryer's, and Turkey Hill All Natural are Philadelphia style ice creams which means they contain no egg.

When I was at Wegmans I spent a bit of time perusing all the ice cream brands as a result of this thread and there was one brand that I was not familiar so curious if anyone else has had it - Perry's Ice Cream?

I ended up with a tub of Tillamook Coffee Almond Fudge

Bolding mine...don't you mean "scooped out" :)
I've had it once in Cincinnati many years ago and liked it. Either my tastes have changed or something else changes the further away from Cincinnati it is.

This week, Edy's popped up as the BOGO brand, and I was reminded that I'd meant to mention the Edy's/Dryer's/Breyer's confusion during the Breyer's conversation. My understanding is that Edy's and Dreyer's are the same, but the former is sold in markets that are served by Breyer's (i.e. eastern 2/3 of the US).

Cutting to the chase, the reason I picked this strange churro flavor (I can no longer see my images to quote the exact name because FT made them enormous) is because it was honestly the only one sold as "ice cream" that I could stomach (apart from vanilla bean, but I was looking for something a little more interesting). The shelves had also been seriously ravaged; the reason container #1 has a deformed lid is because it was the very last one; two other customers were eyeing it when I pounced). It tastes pretty much exactly as you'd expect (churro in ice cream form), which I have to admit was kind of unique (i.e. my taste buds had a "what on earth is this?" reaction).

In terms of quality, it's not offensive but those guys aren't in danger of winning any awards. The texture was on the soft side and a little crystalline (possibly due to shipping conditions). I'm certainly not complaining, though. It's an interesting diversion from the usual Moose Tracks, Butter Pecan (popular in the south), and Cookies & Cream flavors. And, I still derive pleasure from consuming it (I actually used to be a serious ice cream snob until I realized how much I loved ice cream...every brand under the sun deserves a chance to express itself and feel love...as long as it's able to legally call the product ice cream).


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My grocery ice cream is Hagen Das - Strawberry. Will try other brand mentioned here. Any recommendation for other brand strawberry flavor?

IMO, that is by far the best strawberry ice cream out there. The only possible equal/contender would be Movenpick, which I've only seen overseas.

Have you tried Tillamook strawberry? That’s the best I have purchased in a grocery store.

Thanks, I'll try those if I ever see it.

If you still have a Winn-Dixie, their premium black box label is nice, but Blue Bell is still the ice cream of the South my family prefers over Tillamook, which had been my choice from 2006-20. Blue Bunny seems to have more candy than ice cream for years. I stay away from Publix as they're more expensive plus have lost racial and sexual discrimination cases for 40 years.

I thought this thread was about Grocery Store Brands, not major brands. I love Publix's product, they have Standard Ice Cream, Premium Ice Cream, Sherbet, Frozen Yogurt, and now a non-dairy type as well. Being in the South, we see Winn Dixie, Aldi's, Walmart, and Independent Grocer's brands besides Publix. Most of these brands are made by a major company who allows the Supermarket chains to put their name on it by a licensing agreement, but it is not published so the Name Brand doesn't lose sales that the consumer could buy at a lesser price than the name brand.

The local Winn Dixie shut down for renovations about 3 weeks ago and is being rebranded as an Aldi (apparently, about half of them are going this route).

I used to boycott Publix on moral grounds, but I dropped that policy after I discovered just how much nicer the nearby location is than the aforementioned Winn Dixie. It is extremely well run, has excellent seafood/produce/meats, and the prices honestly weren't appreciably higher than Winn Dixie...though, a lot of the specials evaporated almost immediately after Winn Dixie closed.

This thread can be about any ice cream we like, dislike, or simply find worthy of discussion, but when I started it, I was thinking about the 6-8 major brands that rotate through various grocery store chains as the weekly specials. And, I was curious to learn about what brands are popular in different parts of the US. The store brands are relevant to that conversation because some of them are better than some of the major brands (i.e. I'll buy pretty much any generic before I'll touch Blue Bunny, even if they're giving it away).

Would this be in Aventura?

Publix does not have "store" specials. All their sales/specials are system wide, so their customers will see the same specials no matter what store they go to. The only thing the stores have different are clearance items.

I don't think I've ever been to Aventura.

With respect to the broader point, my empirical experience and a quick Google or Reddit search suggests that inter-store variations wrt both prices and discounts are marked.

There ‘ s Ben and Jerry , Haagen Dazs , Tillamook , Waitrose , .. Kings, Magnolia , Nestle , Walls , Udders , etcetera for grocery store brands

Might add to this list later , probably need a break to check our collection / repertoire in the freezers 😉 Including others - artisanal like The Daily Scoop or other stand alone brands - Venchi 😊

Tillamook, hands down!