From playful flavors to alcohol-infused varieties to handheld options, today’s frozen desserts, novelties and pies bring a lot to the party.

Here is a rundown of some trends impacting this category:

• Restaurants are catering to consumers’ on-the-go lifestyles by putting their own touches on portable frozen treats.
• Handhelds and single-serve offerings open up the market to those consumers who turn to cold desserts as a snack.
• Hybrid desserts, or a fusion of two in one, continue to evoke innovation and bold flavors.
• Childhood favorites bring warm fuzzies to the freezer aisles.
• Novel ingredients and ethnic flare impart new ways for consumers, especially Millennials, to indulge.
• Speaking of indulging, studies show that all-natural, better-for-you ingredients need not apply to this category because when consumers want to indulge, they want to indulge right.
• A steady rise in pie sales at independent bakeshops and prepared food operations in supermarkets demonstrates that home-style, if not homemade, pies are trending up.
• Apple pie takes the cake, according to a consumer survey by Nielsen LLC, New York, and commissioned by the American Pie Council, Lake Forest, Ill. Chocolate pie ties with pumpkin in the No. 2 spot, while cherry places third.
• At restaurants, apple pie continues to dominate as one of guests’ most preferred desserts, according to “Dessert Consumer Trend Report,“ published by Chicago-based Technomic Inc.
• Fresh fruit-filled pies and desserts continue to garner larger slice of the market.

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