Use to work in Category Management/Analytics on the dairy side, so here's what I remember from the ice cream category:

Cheap ice cream uses less butter fat, which causes larger ice crystals and a more fluffy textier. Expensive ice cream is generally smoother and fattier. Generally speaking, ice cream with a higher butter fat content produces more flavor.

Super-premium ice cream generally contains about >16% butterfat and less overrun, which means air makes up less of the ice cream volume. The resulting ice cream is more dense and heavier (depending on the overrun).

These are parts of the reason why Ben & Jerry's and Haagen Dazs are more expensive. They are considered premium ice cream, with higher butterfat content around 14-16% and less overrun, (<50%). Anything higher is considered super-premium, which is obviously even more expensive.

Breyer's & other grocery store brands are generally a tier below in terms of butterfat, with a much higher overrun. So just because it might be $1-2 cheaper, doesn't mean you'll get anywhere near the value as the mentioned brands above.



Some extra trivia:
-Gelato isn't regulated, so there's no formal definition. This is why you might eat some delicious Gelato at one place, and ****ty Gelato at another.
-There's federal standards for ice cream. Minimum of 10% butter fat and other stuff.

Bluebell is considered a regular tier of ice cream. They have lower butterfat and more overrun in their ice cream. Ben & Jerry's is better. Blue Bunny is also slightly better than Bluebell, if you're looking for another better ice cream brand.

I'm also from Texas, so I'm not trying to hate on my state's ice cream.

Could be worse man. My wife bought a crazy expensive breville ice cream maker and used it once in 4 years. Which is one more time than she used the Zojirushi Home Bakery Virtuoso bread maker (even more expensive). Yet she’s regularly still buying nice ice cream and artisan bread. I’ve stopped trying to understand it.

lmao Ben & Jerrys all day

Tillamook Monica

I make my own ice cream. Doesn't last more than an hour out of my maker. People have asked me to sell it to them.