Do you run an ice cream, gelato or frozen yogurt store? Ice cream cups are a vital part of any ice cream business, helping you deliver your products to customers and provide an option for customers that want to take your ice cream home with them.

Ice cream cups are available in a range of sizes, from small cups designed for single scoops of ice cream or small servings of frozen yogurt to large cups designed for ice cream sundaes and parfaits. They’re also available in a range of materials, from thick, durable paper to plastic.

As you’d expect, each size and type of ice cream cup serves a specific purpose, meaning you’ll likely want to purchase more than one type of ice cream cup for your ice cream, frozen yogurt or gelato store.

It’s also important to be aware of the difference between ice cream cups -- designed for a single serving of ice cream -- and containers designed for larger amounts of ice cream stored inside a home or freezer.

From sizes to materials, designs and more, we’ve explained everything you need to know about ice cream cups below.

Ice Cream Cups vs. Containers: What’s the Difference?

View our range of ice cream serving and storage products online and you’ll notice two different product types for sale -- ice cream cups and ice cream containers.

While these two products can look very similar at first glance, they’re actually very different. The first -- ice cream cups -- have an open top that doesn’t support the use of a lid, meaning they’re designed for single-serving, one-off use only.

You’ll want these cups for single servings of ice cream, gelato or frozen yogurt that customers intend to eat in your store or take out to each over the next few minutes.

The second -- ice cream containers -- are slimmer, taller and designed to hold a lid. Containers are designed to hold ice cream for a long period of time, either as a single serving inside your store’s freezer (or a convenience store or other outlet) or a customer’s home freezer.

In short, ice cream cups are designed for providing ice cream here and now, while containers are designed to store ice cream over the long term.

If your business only sells single servings of fresh ice cream, you’ll probably want to focus on purchasing ice cream cups. However, if you sell pre-packaged ice cream -- either in your own store or through other distribution outlets -- you’ll need to package it inside containers.

Ice Cream Cup Sizes

Just like ice cream containers, which we explained in our detailed guide, ice cream cups are available in a wide range of sizes.

The smallest ice cream cups have a total capacity of four ounces. These cups are designed to hold a single scoop of ice cream (or, when filled to capacity, two small scoops of ice cream) and can also store a relatively small serving of frozen yogurt.

Most ice cream, gelato, and frozen yogurt stores use these cups for their smallest serving sizes, as the four-ounce capacity is usually enough for people looking for a small snack.

The next largest ice cream cup size is 5.5 ounces. This cup size is large enough to hold two to three scoops of ice cream, or a moderate to a large serving of frozen yogurt. Most stores opt to use this size of cup for their regular or large serving options.

Four and 5.5-ounce cups are typically manufactured using thick, durable double PE paper and are designed to minimize environmental waste.

In addition to paper ice cream cups, you can also purchase plastic cups in a range of different sizes, dimensions, and capacities.

Five-ounce plastic cups, which have a wide circumference and a relatively shallow depth, are designed for ice cream sundaes. Because they’re clear and wide, these cups are perfect for showing off artful sundaes with lots of toppings, such as whipped cream or chocolate syrup.

Larger eight-ounce plastic sundae cups are also available, giving your business a larger size option for regular or large servings.

In addition to sundae cups, which have a large circumference and shallow depth, parfait cups are also available. These cups have a very different design -- they have a shallow base, a tall design, and a wide opening, almost like the ice cream equivalent of a wine glass.

This design is ideal for parfaits, which commonly feature multiple scoops of ice cream stacked on top of each other and adorned with toppings. Like sundae cups, parfait cups are transparent, letting your customers see the ice cream and its toppings as they enjoy it.

Parfait cups come in several sizes, the most common of which are nine ounces (typically used for mid-sized parfaits) and 12 ounces (typically used for large parfaits).

Unlike paper ice cream cups, which aren’t designed to hold a lid, sundae and parfait cups can both support plastic lids. This means that they can be used for fresh ice cream and pre-made ice cream products sold via your own freezer or a third-party distributor.

Ice Cream Cup Printing and Decorating

Because ice cream cups are made from durable double PE paper, they’re easy to customize to suit your needs. From logos to solid background colors, patterns and more, your business can add its own decorative touch to your ice cream cups when you place your order.

We offer a range of customization options for ice cream cups, lids, and other products like colored spoons, making it easy to extend your brand identity to your cups and containers.

Like with other customizable products, most of our customizable ice cream cups have a modest minimum order quantity (MOQ), meaning you’ll need to purchase a minimum amount of units in order to apply your own custom branding.

Contact Us Now to Learn More

Are you searching for a reliable supplier of ice cream cups for your business? From cups to ice cream containers, we offer a complete range of storage and serving products for your ice cream business, complete with high quality customization and branding options.

For more information and pricing for our ice cream cups, containers and other products, you can view our full range of ice cream container products online. You can also contact us online or via phone to talk to a member of our team and request a custom quote for your business.

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