China surpasses U.S. as world’s largest market for ice cream

One third of all ice cream bought globally is consumed in China, which became the largest ice cream market in the world in 2014, beating the US by a lick with $11.4bn in sales compared with $11.2bn.

2014年中国_冰淇淋市场销售额达114亿美元，_销量占全球三分之一，超越美国（112亿美元），跃居全球最大的冰淇淋市场。

Ice cream sales in the US are on track to catch up to $11.4bn this year, by which point China will have reached $12.6bn as its growing middle class enjoys higher disposable incomes.

2015年，美国冰淇淋销售额有望达到114亿美元，中国市场在享有较高可支配收入的中产阶级推动下，冰淇淋销售额将达126亿美元。

However, Americans retained their crown as the most gluttonous ice cream consumers in the world, consuming 18.4 litres of the dairy dessert per capita in a year – more than four times more than the average Chinese person's annual intake.

但论及人均冰淇淋消耗量，美国人仍然遥遥领先！在美国，每年平均每人消耗18.4升冰淇淋，平均年摄入量是中国消费者的4倍之多。

Alex Beckett, food analyst at Mintel, said that rising incomes are driving the growth in China's ice cream market, helped by the country's increasingly developed retail infrastructure and facilities for storing and suppling "cool cargo".

Mintel食品分析师Alex Beckett表示，在中国，随着存储和供应生鲜食品、冷冻食品的零售基础设施与设备的不断完善，以及中国消费者收入水平的不断提升，中国冰淇淋市场也在逐渐壮大。

Just two non-Chinese companies make the list of the country's 10 most popular ice cream brands. Unilever, which owns Wall's and Ben & Jerry's, is the fourth biggest company in China with around 3pc of the market, while Nestle holds 1pc.

中国人气最高的10大冰淇淋品牌中，国外品牌只有2家：联合利华和雀巢。旗下拥有Wall’s及Ben & Jerry’s的联合利华以3%的市场份额排名第四，而雀巢仅占1%。

Globally, the ice cream market surpassed sales of $50bn for the first time in 2014, up from $48bn the previous year. British consumers spent £1.1bn on 345m litres of ice cream last year, about 1pc less than in 2013, which means the average person spent £17.25 on five litres of the frozen treat.

2014年，全球冰淇淋销售额首次突破500亿美元，2013年为480亿美元。其中，英国市场销售额为11亿英镑，消耗3.45亿升冰淇淋，与2013年相比下降1%。也就是说平均每个英国人消费17.25英镑，消耗5升冰淇淋。

Ice cream consumption in developed markets is melting under the heat of diet-conscious consumers, competition from frozen yogurt. These challenges give ice cream giants all the more reason to extend their presence – and new product development investment-in more emerging economies, particularly in Asia.

不难发现，发达国家消费者对冰淇淋的支出正在减少，主要源于消费者的健康饮食意识增强，选择以热量相对较低的冷冻酸奶代替冰淇淋。这导致许多冰淇淋大户不得不改变策略，加速新兴市场扩张，特别是亚洲，加大新产品开发投资。