Leading ice cream makers made news last summer when they quietly reduced the size of their cartons, without reducing retail prices. But now a Maine-based family-owned ice cream firm is bucking the trend.

Gifford’s Ice Cream is boosting the size of its cartons from 56-ounces to 64-ounces next month, with no increase in price. Company president Roger Gifford called it “economic relief” for consumers, adding, “We’re fully aware families are trying to economize”.

The trend toward smaller ice cream containers dates to 2001 when Schwan’s cut carton size from a half gallon to 1.75 quarts. Dreyer’s, manufacturer of the Dreyer’s and Edy’s brands, followed in early 2002. Many other ice cream makers, including Gifford’s, gradually followed.

The 1.75-quart container became the norm…until last summer, when companies including Breyers and Edy’s cut package size to 1.5 quarts.

A few ice cream makers resisted the trend, including Blue Bell, which continues to sell ice cream in full half-gallon containers.  “Companies have decreased their carton sizes yet increased the price,” Melvin Ziegenbein, Blue Bell’s vice president of sales and marketing. “This is in no way a benefit to those who purchase the product.”

Gifford’s apparently agrees, noting that it will phase in the larger containers in March. The ice cream is available at grocery stores throughout New England, including Hannaford’s and Shaw’s, and in select stores in New York and New Jersey.  It’s also available at five company-owned ice cream stands in Maine and at a number of independent ice cream stands throughout New England.

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