Ice cream price hike predicted

Sweet-toothed Austrians have been dealt little mouth-watering news.Economy Chamber (WKO) Silvio Molin-Pradel announced today (Fri) ice cream parlours in Austria will charge around 20 Eurocents more for a small cone this summer. Molin-Pradel explained businesspeople of the trade decided to react to rising foodstuff prices as the trade rates for cocoa, hazelnuts and other products shot up recently.The WKO official said he expected the average price for ice cream sold at cafés, ice cream parlours and supermarkets across the country to edge up by four per cent compared to 2010.Products of companies focusing on offering pre-packaged ice cream in shops currently cost around 10 per cent more than in 2010, according to economic development indicators.Business newspapers also report that more and more customers were opting for organic ice creams and products produced in a sustainable and eco-friendly way.A survey by Dutch-British foodstuff company Unilever revealed last summer that Austrians eat an average 7.1 litres of ice cream annually. The firm said Scandinavian countries dominate a European comparison, with Finland (14.5 litres) ahead of Norway (11.7 litres) and Sweden with a per capita consumption of 11.6 litres of the refreshing delicacy.Other polls identified vanilla and strawberry as Austrians’ favourite ice cream flavours.