Ice Cream Key Terms

Understand ice cream key terms to choose and store a delicious business inventory

Retailers, ice cream distributors and ice cream makers all know that the right types of frozen desserts are essential for a successful business, but finding the appropriate treats can lead to a sticky mess. That’s why it’s important to learn the right ice cream key terms to better understand what you’re buying. These terms ensure a high quality wholesale ice cream product.

Both ice cream wholesalers and ice cream suppliers use specific terms to describe their products and the processes used to make their products. This is important information to understand the health and safety issues behind your frozen treats. Before purchasing ice cream for your business, consider the following:

1. Suppliers of ice cream offer different types of ice cream and these products have a taste and texture that varies greatly.

2. Ice cream is only one type of frozen dessert; the best ice cream producers should also have other closely related products.

3. Ice cream manufacturers have to meet certain standards of quality in order to label a product as ice cream.

 

Learn the key terms for types of wholesale ice cream to choose the best product for your business

Ice cream is a complicated dessert. In fact, the USDA has set a standard for all commercially sold ice cream. It needs to contain at least 10% butter fat, which is also called milk fat. However, this product can contain different amounts of overrun. The key term, overrun refers to the amount of air churned into the ice cream during freezing. Ice cream that has higher percentages of butter fat and overrun have different names, such as premium and economy.
Try: Dairyforall.com is a great resource for all things ice cream. There’s even a section of the site that goes over manufacturing techniques for ice cream makers that contains more key terms. Check out Slashfood for educated opinions and definitions of ice cream and other frozen desserts.

Include basic frozen dessert, not just ice cream, key terms in your knowledge database

It's important for any ice cream retailer or ice cream distributor or maker to have knowledge of other types of frozen desserts. Customers may refer to a product as ice cream when they're really looking for ice milk or frozen yogurt. In these cases, ice milk is made with milk instead of cream and frozen yogurt is made with yogurt instead of cream.
Try: THE NIBBLE magazine offers a helpful glossary of ice cream and frozen desserts that includes terms and in-depth definitions. If you can’t find what you’re looking for on there, check out the International Dairy and Foods Association for more key terms and definitions. Also, visit its labeling definitions page to learn the key terms regarding the labels you’ll find on ice cream.

Educate yourself on basic ice cream key terms and label requirements

Manufacturers can't label just any product as ice cream. Ice cream has to meet certain requirements in order to obtain the name ice cream. Some of these include percentage of overrun, amount of butter fat and the fact that the product is made with cream and not another dairy product.
Try: Real California Milk from the California Milk Advisory Board offers a nice glossary of ice cream terms and requirements. Also, check out the websites storage suggestions for getting the best flavor from your ice cream products. RecipeTips.com is a great resource for ice cream terms associated with cooking and creating food items with ice cream.

 

• Before you buy your ice cream, ask your ice cream wholesaler about their product storage conditions. Ice cream should be stored at zero degrees Fahrenheit.

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