MADISON, Conn. -- It's going to be a long, hot summer for ice-cream trucks, according to a Wall Street Journal report. Drivers say Good Humor classics including the Toasted Almond Bar--an almond-flavored slab on a stick, surrounded by vanilla ice cream and sprayed with cake and almond pieces--are harder to come by and often unavailable. Also missing in action: the Chocolate Eclair Bar.
That has put businesses relying on Good Humor in a bad mood. "It's a nightmare," Brian Collis told the newspaper. Collis, a 39-year veteran of the business and owner of Latham, N.Y.-based Mr. Ding-A-Ling Ice Cream Inc., which operates more than 60 trucks across upstate New York and Vermont, said, "It has never been like this."
The problem is that the long, hot spring has caused demand for ice-cream bars to far outstrip what Good Humor's owner, Unilever PLC, had predicted--just as one of the main Good Humor factories, in Hagerstown, Md., is preparing to close for good. Production is being moved to other factories, including those in Covington, Tenn., and Sikeston, Mo., that face "routine challenges" revving up, Unilever spokesperson Jeffrey Graubard told the paper.
"We anticipate alleviating this issue by the end of July, but it's still a moving target," he said.
Unilever said shortages are limited to the ice-cream-truck versions of Good Humor products, which are physically larger than their grocery-store cousins and made on a different production line.
Also, Unilever has rolled out thousands of new convenience store freezers, partly tied to last year's U.S. launch of Magnum bars, a confection Unilever describes as being "enrobed" in a "chocolatey coating." But all these new freezers also need to be stocked with other Unilever ice creams, including Good Humor bars, pulling production away from the truck treats.
Toasted Almond is actually the least popular of the five classic Good Humor bar flavors, accounting for 3% of U.S. sales last year—but it is a hot seller in the Northeast, especially among grown-ups. Amid the shortages, Unilever is prioritizing its most popular bars, like Strawberry Shortcake and Oreo. But that means Northeast trucks wanting more Toasted Almond are getting the short end of the stick.
Many trucks can't get more-popular Good Humor bars, either, the report said.
The Unilever shortages have created a chance for Blue Bunny, an ice-cream-bar rival owned by Le Mars, Iowa-based Wells Enterprises Inc., to strike while the Good Humor Man is down. "Blue Bunny will be making out this season," ice-cream-truck driver Carolyn Chimbolo, who also carries their treats, told the paper.
A spokesperson for Wells declined to comment to the Journal on whether, or how, Blue Bunny was hopping on the opportunity.
In the United States and Canada, Englewood Cliffs. N.J.-based Unilever's other ice cream and frozen treat brands along with Good Humor include Ben & Jerry's, Breyers, Klondike and Popsicle. Other brands include Axe, Becel, Bertolli, Caress, Consort For Men, Country Crock, Degree, Dove personal care products, fds, Hellmann's, I Can't Believe It's Not Butter!, Just for Me!, Knorr, Lever 2000, Lipton, Motions, Nexxus, Noxzema, Pond's, Promise, Q-Tips, Ragu, Simple, Skippy, Slim-Fast, Soft & Beautiful, St. Ives, Suave, tcb, TIGI, TRESemme, Vaseline and Wish-Bone.
Members help make our journalism possible. Become a CSP member today and unlock exclusive benefits, including unlimited access to all of our content. Sign up here.