Ice cream, once an everyday, affordable source of joy, has morphed into a luxury good, violating our fundamental summertime right to cold and creamy salvation. In the US, prices at scoop shops have jumped more than 35% since 2019, when the average cost of a cone was about $4.50, according to Technomic, a research firm.


“It’s not just driven by one factor,” says David Ortega, a food economist at Michigan State University, citing the Covid-19 pandemic, social media, the job market, tariffs, war, the K-shaped economy and a slew of other socioeconomic forces.


“It’s sort of this perfect storm.” It’s not uncommon for an ice cream shop to charge more than $8 for a couple of scoops; multiply that by four for a family, and parents now paying the price of a small meal are left wondering: Is this inflation, price gouging, or have we simply reached peak cone?




https://www.bloomberg.com/news/articles/2026-06-15/why-is-ice-cream-so-expensive-the-rise-of-the-8-cone?accessToken=eyJhbGciOiJIUzI1NiIsInR5cCI6IkpXVCJ9.eyJzb3VyY2UiOiJTdWJzY3JpYmVyR2lmdGVkQXJ0aWNsZSIsImlhdCI6MTc4MTU0MDk0OSwiZXhwIjoxNzgyMTQ1NzQ5LCJhcnRpY2xlSWQiOiJUR08zU0ZSMjRVSTUwMCIsImJjb25uZWN0SWQiOiI4RENBNTA1MjBBM0I0QUExQUM3NEQ4M0JERDFFOTI4OSJ9.h281dz92okMmiGer3QIqv7xuBcnqVgf7R8B2NqaQwFc&leadSource=uverify%20wall

Thanks Trump

Peak cone? Have we reached peak cone? This person is retarded if they think we've reached peak cone.

That isn't anything. I went to my friends house yesterday, and was driving through the neighborhood.


Massive amount of housing developments being started with the homes starting at a half million dollars.


This is in a rural area as well, with the average salary being around 71k when I checked.


Even with that poverty 140k combined salary none of those houses are meant the be bought by the locals of the area.


I'd say in another 10 years new homes that are about 2500 sqft will be starting around a million dollars.

not infuriating? Just make more money?

Strong cost.

Dnr but sorry for poors.

this is happening in the south too...but it's because people from the northeast and other dem voting states are flooding the south. i assume to get away from liberal policies/cold weather. a lot of them come in having sold their previous home and willing to pay way more than than the natives can afford. builders are buying land and throwing up subdivisions as fast as they can to cash in.

The gelato place near me charges $10 for “small size” that’s two flavors.

But they use really high end ingredients and everything is made fresh.

But the problem is I can’t just get the regular ice cream place anymore because that stuff just tastes fake to me now.

The price went up because the quality and my expectations went up.

There’s no middle ground in any business any more. You better either be the best or the cheapest.

flood people with crap food then switch it up and cash in on selling them more profitable somewhat healthier food 😂

At Culvers you can order a kid's meal for about $8 and you get the ice cream plus a burger, fries, and a drink.

Well what I see in the restaurant game (especially fast casual, coffee, ice cream etc” is the game is to come out with something high quality for a good price. Get everyone to love it, blitz with marketing and influencers. And it’s actually good.

But then sell out to private equity where the open a new location very quickly in every neighborhood. The of course them dumb down the menu and the quality. Shame

This shit pisses me the fuck off as a Northerner too because it's almost exclusively the sane, competent, skilled, conservative families who are fleeing to the South. Them leaving only solidifies the Democrats power and basically guarantees the Northeast will remain a collection of welfare states indefinitely.

I think back to the last gubernatorial election in New York. Had over 1 million right-leaning New Yorkers not ran away after Covid, there would've been a Republican elected. Hochul won by less than 400k votes. On the flip side, they were the exact people who helped turn Florida from a swing state to a deep red state in 2024.

So these cocksuckers are not only fucking up the South by inflating the COL and straining your infrastructure, they're fucking up their own home states in the process, demographically and politically.

America would be better off if most people just stayed put (srs).

At Fat Burger you can order a kid's meal for about $2.95 and you get the ice cream plus a burger, fries, and a drink. Phaggot.

you hit the nail on the head.

messing up our natural beauty too because the natives with land (usually passed down through generations) can't help but sell out for big money so builders like lennar can throw up their 500k 2-stories rows and rows deep on postage stamp size lots. then in towns originally designed for like 5-10k people everybody is sitting in gridlocked traffic to get 2 miles because the roads can't handle the traffic.