Which ice creams do the French prefer? (The results are surprising!)

A Harris Interactive study conducted for Deliveroo in July 2017. interviewed 1000 French about their favorite ice cream flavors. The results are absolutely fascinating, revealing marked differences according to age and gender. If you thought everyone loved chocolate, you're in for a surprise.

Things to remember : Vanilla dominates with 19% of preferences, followed by chocolate at 13%. But men and women have very different tastes, and age radically changes preferences. Rum-raisin is making a spectacular comeback among seniors.

Vanilla: the undisputed, undeniable fragrance

Visit vanilla literally crushes the competition with 19% of the French citing it as their favorite fragrance. That's almost twice as many as the runner-up, chocolate, which won only 13% of the votes. Frankly, I'm only half surprised: vanilla is that sure thing that nobody ever hates.

The crazy thing is that vanilla remains number one in all age categories. Whether you're 20 or 70, vanilla comes out on top. In the 18-24 years old, it even rises to 33% preferences. One young person in three cites vanilla as his or her favorite fragrance.

Vanilla retains its number-one position 25-34 years with 20%, then 18% in the 35-49 years, and 16% in 50 and over. Admittedly, the percentage declines with age, but it remains consistently ahead of all other fragrances. It really is the consensus fragrance par excellence.

Chocolate: second everywhere, except among seniors

Visit chocolate comes second with 13% of votes, far behind vanilla. However, this overall figure conceals a much more nuanced reality when we drill down by age group.

In the young people aged 18-24, chocolate explodes at 23% and is right up there with vanilla. It's clearly the fragrance of students and young professionals. It remains strong among 25-34 years with 18%, then begins to decline in the 35-49 years with 14%.

And that's when the drama begins. 50 and over, chocolate falls to 11% and was even overtaken by rum-raisin, which also climbed to 11%. Chocolate disappears completely from the senior podium, relegated to fourth place. I really wasn't expecting that.

The trifecta after vanilla-chocolate: pistachio, lemon and coffee

After the two giants, we find a group of three fragrances battling for third place with very similar scores.

Pistachios: 9% and a real feminine preference

Visit pistachio harvest 9% of votes overall, but this figure masks a strong preference for women. Proportionally, women are much more likely than men to mention this fragrance. Pistachio appears to be a more refined fragrance, less «basic» than vanilla or chocolate.

In the 18-24 years old, pistachio doesn't even appear in the top 3. It rises gradually with age, reaching its peak in the 25-34 years with 9%, then 11% in the 50+ age group. It's a taste you acquire over time, apparently.

Lemon: 9% and the men's champion

Visit lemon shares third place with the pistachio 9%, but with a completely different profile. It's clearly a men's fragrance : 10% of men are much less likely to cite it among women.

Lemon rises to 9% in the 25-34 age group and 9% in the 35-49 age group, before dropping back slightly. It's this refreshing tartness that appeals, this alternative to ultra-sweet creamy flavors. At the height of summer, I totally understand the appeal of a good, tart lemon sorbet.

Coffee: 8% and another feminine fragrance

Visit coffee comes a close second with 8% of votes overall. Like pistachio, it's a more seductive fragrance. women than men. It is one of those sophisticated «dessert» tastes that stand out from the classics.

In the 18-24 years old, coffee doesn't even make the top 4. It appears progressively in the older age groups, reaching 9% in the 50+ age group. Coffee ice cream is really a grown-up thing.

Rum raisin makes a comeback among seniors

This is the study's real surprise the rum-raisin is making a spectacular comeback among people of 50 and over. With 11% preferences, he arrives second ex-aequo with chocolate in this age bracket.

I might as well tell you that in my head, rum-raisin was grandma's flavor, the one you always find in the family ice-cream tubs and that nobody ever finishes. Well, I was wrong. The figures show that among senior citizens, it's an ultra-popular flavor that rivals chocolate.

In the young people aged 18-24, rum-raisin scored just 6%. Not surprisingly, it's clearly not a taste that speaks to this Netflix and mojito generation. But it climbs steadily with age, exploding among the over-50s.

Caramel and mint-chocolate: niche fragrances

Visit caramel obtains 7% of votes overall, with a slight female preference. It's the quintessential gourmand fragrance, evoking Breton salted butter and comforting desserts. It performs particularly well with 35-49 years.

Visit mint-chocolate also harvests 7% votes. It's the marmite perfume: either you love it or you hate it. It rises to 11% in the 35-49 age group before falling off again. Personally, I find it the most divisive of all the fragrances tested.

Raspberry and strawberry: fruity fragrances lag behind

A relative surprise: fruity-red fragrances aren't all that popular. La raspberry only gets 6% of votes, and the burr only 4%. These figures are quite low for fragrances that can be found absolutely everywhere.

Raspberry has a small peak among 18-24 years old with 11%, but then collapses. It's really a perfume for young people, like the Eskimos and Popsicles of childhood. After the age of 25, the French seem to turn to more sophisticated fragrances.

Strawberry did even worse, with only 4% overall. In my mind, strawberry Tagada and strawberry ice cream were ultra-popular. Obviously, when you ask people to name their flavor preferred, Strawberry doesn't come spontaneously. It's still a nice fragrance, but not an absolute favorite.

Men vs. women: really different tastes

The study reveals marked gender differences that really surprised me.

Men prefer tangy

Men place the rum-raisin much higher than women with 10% of votes (compared with far fewer women). Visit lemon is also over-represented among men with 10%. We find this preference for tangy, refreshing, less sweet tastes.

The men's top 3 would therefore be : vanilla (19%), chocolate (15%), lemon and rum-raisin (10% each). Men have more «classic» and «simple» tastes, according to the data.

Women opt for dessert fragrances

Women place the pistachio much higher than men, just as the coffee and the caramel. The mint-chocolate is also over-represented in their preferences. These are more elaborate, more «gourmand» fragrances, evoking sophisticated desserts.

The female top would look more like : vanilla (19%), chocolate (12%), pistachio (10%), coffee (10%), caramel (9%). Women clearly have more varied preferences and dare to think outside the box.

Coconut and mango: the exotics that spontaneously come to mind

The study allowed participants to name fragrances other than those listed. Among the most spontaneously mentioned include the coconut and the mango.

These exotic flavors weren't on the original list, but were mentioned enough to merit a mention. This shows that the French are becoming increasingly open to flavors from elsewhere, probably under the influence of travel and the diversification of the ice cream offer.

France's ideal ice cream: vanilla whipped cream

If we were to build consensual ice cream that appeals to everyone, it would undoubtedly be a vanilla ice cream (the preferred type of ice for 38%) with whipped cream (topping preferred at 38%).

But of course, this «average» recipe masks much more nuanced preferences. A 20-year-old will probably want to add chocolate and caramel sauce. A 40-year-old woman might prefer coffee-pistachio ice cream. A senior citizen will opt for rum-raisin.

What this study says about us

What strikes me about these results is the extent to which our tastes evolve with age. The chocolate that triumphs among young people is gradually giving way to more complex flavors like pistachio, coffee or rum-raisin. It's as if our palates become more sophisticated with age.

Visit gender differences are also fascinating. There are gender stereotypes in ice cream choices: men go for the simple and tangy, women for the gourmand and refined. Of course, these are general trends, and lots of men love pistachio while lots of women love lemon.

Finally, the absolute triumph for vanilla in all categories shows that there are universal sure-fire values. Vanilla is a bit like jeans: it suits everyone, all the time, in every situation. Not the most exciting, but the most reliable.

My personal top after reading this study

Want to know what I've learned from these figures for my own homemade ice creams? That the variety is essential. Always have vanilla on hand, that's the basics. But also chocolate for the classics, pistachio or coffee for the gourmands, and why not lemon for those who want something refreshing.

The rum-raisin, on the other hand, I remain skeptical. Even though 11% of senior citizens love it, I think I'll wait a few more years before diving into this perfume. To each his own.

Are you a classic vanilla team or a sophisticated pistachio team? Does your favorite fragrance match the statistics in this study?