Ice Cream Brands That Aren't What They Used To Be

As most anyone who enjoys a bowl of ice cream after dinner may well have noticed, it's become an increasingly common opinion that major ice cream brands aren't as good as they once were. While childhood nostalgia blatantly colors memories of simple pleasures like ice cream — all but guaranteeing some degree of disappointment in adulthood — a good deal of evidence suggests that plenty of popular ice cream brands have experienced legitimate downgrades in the recent past. In fact, around 2023, outlets like CNN began reporting that America's appetite for ice cream was generally declining. Seemingly as a result, it has become necessary for established ice cream brands to cut corners in order to adapt.

For example, shrinkflation, the term that refers to grocery store items becoming smaller without dropping in price, is something that has affected multiple ice cream brands. In other cases, customers (in quantities sizable enough to indicate more than mere nostalgia goggles) have reported outright dips in quality. For these reasons and more, it's clear that the following ice cream brands are simply not what they used to be.

Ben & Jerry's is one of a few brands synonymous with the grocery store ice cream aisle, but it has become subject to a pronounced downturn all the same. First off, customers on websites like Reddit have reported worse ingredients and smaller portions of ice cream in their Ben & Jerry's pints. That said, this perceived decline in quality is a stance that other customers have refuted. Nevertheless, some noteworthy changes behind the scenes suggest that the company's future may be in flux, perhaps explaining why its products might have changed at least a little.

One important factor is a decrease in business at retail locations, according to data published by Unacast. Compounding that loss of foot traffic is a decision by its parent company Unilever in March 2024 to let go of its ice cream brands by the end of 2025. On its own that might not be a bad thing, but the move meant that Unilever cut 7,500 jobs collectively from those ice cream brands, including Ben & Jerry's. Moving forward, Ben & Jerry's will have to adapt to both a decline in the popularity of its scoop shops and less employees. If those factors haven't significantly affected the quality of its ice cream yet, it's likely they will in the near future.

The storied Halo Top ice cream brand may well be inseparable from the mid-2010s. Specifically, in 2017, demand for ice cream advertising healthier ingredients became so pronounced that at one point Halo Top point overtook brands like Häagen-Dazs and Baskin-Robbins, becoming the best-selling ice cream in America. That success, it turned out, was unsustainable, and now Halo Top is demonstrably different than it was during its heyday.

A key change to Halo Top's formula was something the company decided to implement in response to a sharp downturn in sales. Whereas previously, Halo Top made its ice cream products with skim milk, in 2022 the brand pivoted to a recipe utilizing ultra-filtered milk. Combined with a change to the way it incorporated protein solids, the new Halo Top formula was intended to result in a creamier product, more closely approximating competing higher-calorie ice cream products. 

For what it's worth, a number of Reddit posters have shared they feel this change was for the worse, and they've since shifted allegiances to alternative low-calorie ice cream brands. Of course, regardless of how individual customers feel about the change, the simple fact remains that the version of Halo Top that once outsold every other competitor is no longer in production.

Nowadays, grocery store freezer aisles are full of novel ice cream treats, from frozen fruit bars to GoodPop's diet-conscious dessert sandwiches. Of course, plenty of classic products are still available on those very same shelves, including the Klondike bar — ice cream coated in a chocolate shell and shaped into a single-serving square of sorts. But just as the freezer aisle has changed over the years, so too has the Klondike bar.

For what it's worth, Klondike is among the ice cream brands that Unilever decided to let go of in March 2024. Much like Ben & Jerry's, the company must now reckon with a smaller number of employees and a change in structure. That said, posters online started noticing their Klondike bars weren't the same as they used to be, even before the Unilever decision. One Reddit thread on the shrinkflation subreddit, for instance, posited that Klondike bars have become noticeably smaller, and plenty of posters agreed. 

Another Reddit thread on the shrinkflation subreddit, also noted the smaller size in addition to a lower-quality wrapper — perhaps a trivial detail but one that multiple commenters characterized as a game-changer. Simply put, changes to the Klondike bar product have caused longtime fans of the product to lose interest entirely in the classic frozen treat.

One high-profile instance of customers arguing that an iconic ice cream brand changed for the worse involved a widespread claim that Breyers altered its recipe to the extent that it could no longer label products as ice cream, but technically distinct frozen dairy desserts. The claim was ultimately debunked, albeit only partially — Breyers does produce frozen dairy dessert products in addition to legitimate ice cream. That said, it's unlikely this false assertion would have caught on to the point that the company felt the need to comment were it not for customers noticing their Breyers ice cream was a little different than they remembered.

Indicative of this fact is a Reddit thread from October 2023 in which a user asks fellow members of the ice cream subreddit just why Breyers might have dipped in quality. In response, some people noted an increase in prevalence of Breyers frozen dairy dessert products, while others blamed simple corporate cost-cutting. Breyers is another brand that Unilever decided to drop, but like Klondike, customers started noticing a difference in Breyers' product prior to Unilever's restructuring. So, even if the frozen dairy dessert rumor was partially untrue and the corporate restructuring a more recent phenomenon, plenty of those familiar with the Breyers brand are convinced the quality of its ice cream has gone downhill, whatever the reason may be.

While the claim that Breyers shifted the entirety of its product from ice cream to frozen dairy dessert may have turned out to be hearsay, that very circumstance practically happened to Blue Bunny ice cream. Ultimately, there are multiple criteria a product must meet to be considered ice cream, and frozen dairy desserts are typically icier and/or airier. Blue Bunny did, in fact, once produce ice cream, but the company has since labeled the majority of its products as either frozen dairy desserts or soft serve. Materially, this change is indicative of a higher total number of ingredients, including coconut oil and dairy product solids, as well as a significant reduction in milk and cream content.

One Reddit user shared this observation on the shrinkflation subreddit and posited that a change in corporate ownership might be behind the shift — in 2022, the Ferrero group took over Blue Bunny's parent company Wells Enterprises. Without direct confirmation from someone involved with Ferrero or Wells, it's impossible to credit that change in ownership definitively. Whatever the case may be, however, customers have taken note of the fact that Blue Bunny has practically given up making ice cream altogether, favoring a doubtlessly cheaper but chemically more complex frozen dairy dessert.

A Mashed poll asking hundreds of people in the U.S. to choose their least favorite ice cream brand found that nearly 20% agreed the worst store-bought ice cream was manufactured by Blue Bell. For what it's worth, this was likely not just because of its quality but also the fact that in 2015, the president of Blue Bell at the time attempted to cover up a listeria outbreak. Of course, these factors feed into one another — if people enjoy Blue Bell less because of a perceived link with listeria, fewer people buy the product. If fewer people buy the product, the company likely needs to cut costs. In the end, the product goes downhill and places first in a poll of worst ice creams.

While opinions are ultimately divided on whether or not Blue Bell ice cream has dipped in quality, one Reddit user noticed fillers in a product ingredient list that weren't there in the past. Plus, another Reddit user shared a photo of 64-ounce Blue Bell ice cream tubs at a price point of $9.49 that virtually every commenter — whether a fan of Blue Bell or not — agreed was excessive. In short, even if a decline in quality may be up for debate, an increase in price is at least one demonstrable change to the Blue Bell brand.

Drumstick is akin to Klondike in being a longtime staple of the freezer aisle, and one that's even spawned its fair share of imitators. Also like Klondike, there's reason to believe the Drumstick product has declined since its glory days.

In one particularly noteworthy instance of Drumstick ice cream cones garnering negative attention, the product went viral midway through 2024 for failing to melt, even in pretty extreme conditions. Whether or not the manufacturing method that makes this possible is a concrete change or something customers only just started to notice, plenty of social media users responded negatively to the apparent artificiality. For what it's worth, Drumsticks aren't actually made with real ice cream, and never purported to be, but that doesn't preclude an update to their melt-resistant technology.

Furthermore, one Reddit user on the shrinkflation subreddit and another Reddit user posting to the foodscam subreddit both shared photos of Drumsticks and suggested a decrease in size. Whether or not they are actually smaller is up for debate. What's true regardless is that Drumsticks are garnering plenty of negative attention online, and part of the reason is a perceived decline in the product's value.

Friendly's, it's worth noting, has not been the same as it was at its peak for quite some time now. The company dates all the way back to 1935, when brothers Curtis and Prestley Blake opened a diner with ice cream as the main attraction. In 1987, Friendly's began packaging its ice cream for grocery stores, and at the peak of its popularity in 1996, there were more than 800 Friendly's restaurants in operation. Since then, things have pretty much only ever gone downhill business-wise, including multiple bankruptcies and hundreds of closures.

Unsurprisingly, the decline of the Friendly's franchise has resulted in what very much appears to be a hit to the quality of its ice cream. Numerous Reddit users on the videos subreddit and others on a subreddit for the chain restaurant comedy podcast Doughboys — all of whom were commenting on a 2023 video detailing the company's downfall — shared poor experiences with the Friendly's chain. Some people recounted fond childhood memories of Friendly's ice cream, while others simply visited as adults and had a bad time. So, even if Friendly's has been a shadow of its former self for a while now, its fall-off remains a topic of discussion in the present day.

Walmart shoppers will recognize Great Value as one of the megacorp's proprietary store brands. As it turns out, the 2024 launch of a competing, quality-focused Walmart brand may well have a quantifiable impact on Great Value ice cream — according to Supermarket News, Gen Z customers are 67% likelier to purchase Bettergoods ice cream over the Great Value brand. That said, an apparent decline in Great Value ice cream's quality predates even the introduction of Bettergoods.

In June 2021, for example, a Reddit user on the shrinkflation subreddit claimed that two Great Value ice creams contained less add-ins than they were used to. Several commenters agreed and opined that the ice cream brand was going downhill. Similarly, in 2023, a Reddit user on a subreddit for homemade ice cream recounted that a batch of vanilla Great Value ice cream had an overtly off-putting taste. One commenter shared a similar experience, believing the strange flavor was the result of a clear change in the product. All in all, the Great Value ice cream brand was already attracting some negative attention beforehand, and signs that Bettergoods will eat into Great Value ice cream sales may well hasten what was already a conspicuous decline.

People don't have very many kind things to say about the Turkey Hill brand ice cream. One 2023 Reddit thread on the shrinkflation subreddit, for example, noted a drop in quantity and a reduction in packaging quality after purchasing a roughly 1.5-gallon ice cream tub. Commenters bemoaned this change, as well as a transition from real ice cream to a frozen dairy dessert recipe. That latter point was also the subject of a 2024 Reddit thread on the shrinkflation subreddit, garnering plenty of additional criticism of Turkey Hill's ice cream.

For what it's worth, Turkey Hill isn't necessarily a company in decline financially. In 2024 — while admittedly a little late to capitalize on the jump in popularity during the Barbenheimer season in 2023 — Turkey Hill collaborated on two ice cream flavors with the Barbie brand. That said, even if a big-time brand collaboration might suggest economic well-being, customers weren't altogether thrilled with the Barbie flavors. A Daily Meal review of Turkey Hill's Barbie flavors (Frosted Cupcake and Strawberry Marshmallow) found both to be underwhelming. Simply put, Turkey Hill's present-day frozen dairy dessert isn't hitting like its ice cream used to.

Unlike pretty much every other brand on this list, United Dairy Farmers is not widely available across the U.S. but centralized in the Cincinnati, Ohio, area, with grocery store pints and tubs available in some neighboring states. Nevertheless, United Dairy Farmers ice cream earns its spot for an apparent fall-off that demonstrates declining ice cream quality isn't just limited to corporate brands.

In April 2023, a Reddit user asked members of the Cincinnati subreddit why United Dairy Farmers' Homemade brand of grocery store ice cream seemed to have dipped in quality. One comment suggested the brand's decline started with the death of founder Carl H. Lindner Jr. in 2011. Meanwhile, another Reddit user claimed secondhand knowledge of a major job shakeup on the United Dairy Farmers factory side, perhaps explaining a more recent change. In any case, this particular online group of Cincinnati residents seems to agree that even their local United Dairy Farmers ice cream brand isn't what it once was.