Summer is coming to an end, but there is a pleasure we can still fully enjoy: enjoying a good ice cream in good company.

Among the moments of conviviality that of ice cream has always been the sweetest. In the question – “Shall we have an ice cream?” – there is a request to spend time together lightly and carefree.

Consuming an ice cream with someone is more intimate than drinking a coffee: the choice of flavors helps us understand the personality of who we are dealing with and get to know them better.
Each of us has a happy memory lived in front of a cone or a cup: a moment of his childhood in the company of his grandparents, a first date, a meeting with a best friend to confess secrets and dreams .
According to the survey “The role of ice cream in the experience of Italians” conducted at the beginning of 2019 by the Fipe Study Office – the Italian Federation of Public Establishments – 94.2% of Italians habitually consume artisanal ice cream.

But what are the favorite places to enjoy an ice cream with friends, family or a loved one?

For lovers of homemade ice cream: the independent ice cream shop

The small artisanal ice cream shop is the favorite place to consume ice cream by Italians, with 95.4%.
Behind every independent ice cream parlor there is a philosophy, a story that culminates in the sweetness and creaminess of the flavors offered.

In fact, each of these places is unique, both in terms of furniture and style of the place and for the variety of tastes strong>. From liberty to modern style, from classic to design furnishings. From the strudel or apple flavor from Val Venosta in Alto Adige to the one with cherries from Vignola in Emilia Romagna, from the Pettole or prickly pear flavor in Puglia to the mulberry sorbets from Etna or the Cerda artichoke in Sicily .
You go to an artisan ice cream parlor when you walk with friends on a summer evening. Between a selfie, a laugh and a chat, the ideal is to eat an ice cream together to cool off.
Or when you want to try that new artisanal ice cream parlor that you hear so much about in company.

What leads Italians to prefer this type of ice cream shop?
Consumers today are increasingly attentive to the origin of ingredients and their quality. Furthermore, for 42.6% of those interviewed, the presence of a production laboratory influences the choice of an ice cream shop.
Even sight plays a decisive role in the choice: 75.9% of Italians prefer tubs of homemade ice cream in view, while only 19.2% of the sample prefers tubs with lids instead.

For those who combine business with pleasure: the Bar Gelateria

66.6% of ice cream lovers prefer ice cream bars to enjoy a cone or cup.
In an ice cream bar, the clinking of cups alternates with the crunchy sound of a bite of a wafer. This type of establishment offers cafeteria services together with a variety of flavors of ice cream, even if not all of them have production laboratories inside.

The ice cream bar is preferred when in the office or near the house the moment for a coffee intertwines and exchanges with that for an ice cream.
The coffee break at work becomes sweeter with colleagues or a quick coffee with a friend turns into a stracciatella flavored chat.

For 34.8% of Italians, the location of an ice cream parlor is in fact one of the discriminating factors in choosing one place over another, with 11.4% preferring one near their home or office.

For those with a sweet tooth: the pastry and ice cream shop

According to Fipe data, 73.7% of Italians enjoy their ice cream in a pastry shop.
In the ice cream confectionery the sweetness is in plain sight.
The lights of the display case for sweets enhance the delicious colors of macarons and pastries next to the ice cream display case with soft flavors or near the pozzetti.

The pastry shops and ice cream parlors give the consumer a guarantee in terms of craftsmanship and quality of the raw materials.
In fact, those who choose this type of ice cream are very attentive to the genuineness of the ingredients and appreciate, for example, the lava Pistachio from Bronte, the round hazelnut from the Langhe or the pasteurized fresh whole milk from South Tyrol.

You go to these ice cream parlors when you want to eat a dessert in company and you want to choose which sin of gluttony to give in to, a chocolate and strawberry cup or a cream-filled pastry.
The ice cream parlor is also the ideal destination for those who, like 77.4% of Italians, consider ice cream the “ideal dessert to offer when you have guests”.

For those who don’t like change: ice cream chains

According to Fipe data, 25% of consumers choose the ice cream shops of a chain. These ice cream parlors have standard furniture in each store and a homogeneous offer of flavours.

What kind of ice cream do we find in these outlets?
A product that is prepared in advance and then kept on site with milk, chocolate chips, biscuits, nougat according to taste or delivered directly for sale to the public.

You choose a chain ice cream parlor when on Sunday afternoon, during a walk with the family in a shopping center, the desire for a sweet break arises.
Or when on holiday abroad with friends you have the desire for an ice cream and you want to rely on a well-known Italian brand.

These ice cream parlors are preferred by a public that finds confirmation and psychological safety in the faithful and unchanged replication of an image and a flavour. In this way, however, the possibility of discovering an independent ice cream parlor with a particular style and offering innovative flavors is lost.

The ice cream shop: a choice of heart and belly

Eating an ice cream represents a moment of sharing and conviviality experienced with one’s loved ones.
This makes us understand how important it is to take care of every aspect of the place, from the genuineness of the ingredients to the variety of tastes, from the furnishings to the atmosphere in the store.
In fact, when Italians find their favorite gelateria, they remain faithful to it: 62.9% of those interviewed by Fipe declare that they have their own trusted gelateria.
The final goal is then clear: to give the customer a memorable taste experience and guarantee his sweet return.