Instacart Scoops Up America’s ‘Flavorite’ Ice Cream in Every State 🍦🍨

As summer heats up across the country, so do ice cream purchases on Instacart — with sales peaking like clockwork in July. Naturally, it’s fitting that July has been deemed National Ice Cream Month with Americans paying extra special tribute to the creamy, decadent dessert on National Ice Cream Day, taking place this year on July 18. To celebrate the country’s affinity for ice cream, we dipped into Instacart’s purchase data featuring thousands of different ice cream products to reveal each state’s favorite ice cream flavor. 

So here’s the scoop…

Because vanilla is hands down the most purchased ice cream flavor in every state — accounting for more than a quarter (26.2%) of all ice cream sales in the U.S. — we dug a little deeper to find out what people are buying when they step out of their vanilla comfort zone. To do this, we determined which ice cream flavor each state buys the most compared to the national average.*

We all scream for ice cream!

A look at each state’s favorite flavors*

• Alabama – Moose Tracks
• Alaska – Green Tea
• Arizona – Rocky Road
• Arkansas – Rainbow Sherbet
• California – Rocky Road
• Colorado – Green Tea
• Connecticut – Pistachio
• Delaware – Cherry
• Florida – Rum Raisin
• Georgia – Rum Raisin
• Hawaii – Mango
• Idaho – Green Tea
• Illinois – Moose Tracks
• Indiana – Moose Tracks
• Iowa – Moose Tracks
• Kansas – Rainbow Sherbet
• Kentucky – Chocolate Chip
• Louisiana – Birthday Cake
• Maine – Coffee
• Maryland – Cookie Dough
• Massachusetts – Coffee
• Michigan – Moose Tracks
• Minnesota – Moose Tracks
• Mississippi – Birthday Cake
• Missouri – Cookie Dough
• Montana – Rainbow Sherbet
• Nebraska – Moose Tracks
• Nevada – Rocky Road
• New Hampshire – Coffee
• New Jersey – Pistachio
• New Mexico – Chocolate Chocolate Chip
• New York – Pistachio
• North Carolina – Birthday Cake
• North Dakota – Moose Tracks
• Ohio – Chocolate Chip
• Oklahoma – Cookie Dough
• Oregon – Green Tea
• Pennsylvania – Mint Chip
• Rhode Island – Coffee
• South Carolina – Moose Tracks
• South Dakota – Birthday Cake
• Tennessee – Moose Tracks
• Texas – Rainbow Sherbet
• Utah – Rocky Road
• Vermont – Coffee
• Virginia – Birthday Cake
• Washington – Green Tea
• Washington, D.C. – Mango
• West Virginia – Moose Tracks
• Wisconsin – Moose Tracks
• Wyoming – Rocky Road

A closer look at the ‘coolest’ findings:

• This is a-moose-ing. Moose Tracks is the top ice cream flavor in 12 states.
• It’s a split! There’s a four-way tie for the second most popular ice cream flavor between Rocky Road, Green Tea, Coffee, and Birthday Cake. 
• Taste of the Caribbean. The two states closest to the Caribbean — Florida and Georgia — are living their best pirate life with freezers chock full of Rum Raisin.  
• Paradise for the palate. From the Hawaiian islands to the District of Columbia, Mango ice cream is favored for its small taste of paradise.
• A little bit nutty. The Tri-state area might be a bit nuttier than we thought with their love for Pistachio ice cream. 
• Cocoa for chocolate! 24 states — primarily in the midwest and west — prefer ice cream with rich, chocolaty flavors. 
• Just brew it. The Northeast comes full circle with a cup of coffee in the morning and Coffee ice cream for dessert. Because…can you ever have too much coffee?
• One state wonders. These states stand alone with what they’re scooping up:
  • Delaware – Cherry
  • Pennsylvania – Mint Chip  
  • New Mexico – Chocolate Chocolate Chip
• Thinking green. The country’s most northwestern states — Oregon, Idaho, Washington, Alaska — and Colorado all like Green Tea ice cream very matcha!
• Keeping it fruity fresh. Montana, Kansas, Texas, and Arkansas are berry much into tasting the rainbow with Rainbow Sherbet ice cream. 

Although we may not agree on which ice cream flavor is best from state to state, one thing is certain — Americans’ love for ice cream is in-cone-ceivable! Happy National Ice Cream Day, everyone 🍦🍨

*Methodology:

Instacart determined the most popular ice cream flavors in America by measuring which flavor in each state has the highest relative share of all ice cream purchases compared to the national average.

Adjusting for Growth:

We adjust Instacart growth percentages by the overall growth of total deliveries. Doing so removes the influence of our platform growth so we can focus on the change in consumer behavior.

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Author

Instacart is the leading grocery technology company in North America, partnering with more than 1,500 national, regional, and local retail banners to deliver from more than 85,000 stores across more than 14,000 cities in North America. To read more Instacart posts, you can browse the company blog or search by keyword using the search bar at the top of the page.