Ice Cream Inflation Arrives Just in Time for Summer

First the price of olive oil zoomed to a record high; then the same happened to two of my other commodity pleasures — coffee and chocolate. Now that the English summer is arriving, we’re faced with pricier ice cream. Call it a first-world problem, but without a doubt, someone is pulling the strings in the global commodity market just to annoy me.

Sure, ice cream isn’t a commodity. But coconut oil, a key ingredient of industrial-made gelatos, is. And its price has gone parabolic in the wholesale market, setting fresh record highs every month so far in 2025. Worse, further price gains are likely as demand outstrips supply, making one of my guilty indulgences even more expensive. In a nutshell, fewer coconuts mean less oil, which is extracted from the fruit’s dried or fresh meat.