A survey of the organisation’s members found 80% of respondents reported a rise in profits compared with the previous three years.
More than 84% of members said the heatwave had a positive impact on sales. One member reported reaching its half-year forecast sales in just one month.
Vanilla was the best-selling flavour, with members also reporting the increased popularity of salted caramel flavoured ice cream.
A further 50% of respondents said sales of non-traditional ice cream products, such as lollies and soft drinks, also grew.
‘Successful summer period’
Zelica Carr, chief executive of the Ice Cream Alliance, commented: “It’s great that our members have enjoyed such a successful summer period.
“The extreme temperatures we enjoyed across the UK, particularly in June and July, led to everyone in our industry working really hard … some of our members reported working 12 hour days to cope with demand.”
The Ice Cream Alliance is the only trade association that operates in the UK’s ice cream industry, which is worth over £1bn a year.
Meanwhile, only half of the most popular vanilla ice creams on the high street have fresh milk, cream and vanilla on their list of ingredients, according to a consumer rights pressure group.
