In the first of a new series, ACNielsen identifies the top 10 performers among newly launched products. The table below shows the top 10 four-weekly average performances (by value) of ice creams that were launched last season. From April until September, the overall hand held ice cream market declined in volume by 13.6%. Birds Eye Wall's dominated the top 10 new launches of hand held ice creams, in terms of value sales. Development of the category in 2000 saw more "mini" children's lines and a continuation of the confectionery cross-market extensions. Particularly noticeable for their performance are Cadbury's Crunchie and Cadbury's Dairy Milk. The under one litre category is driven by luxury/premium brands. Promotional activity tends to take place during the "out-of-season" Christmas period, where consumers tend to traditionally (but not exclusively) upgrade their brand repertoire. Ben & Jerry's, which was acquired by Birds Eye Wall's, entered the category several years ago. Its competitive strategy has seen it continue to focus on the fun aspect of ice cream with lines such as "Chubby Hubby" and from "Russia with Buzz". At the same time Häagen-Dazs are continuing to develop exciting flavours with "feeling" such as Lemon Passion Pie and Chocolate Fudge Swirl. Many confectionery brand extensions have moved into the under one litre category and small tub size versions of ice cream are entering the hand held sector. This merging of categories is a development to watch. However, it is also feasible that some of the really strong hand held ice cream brands might look to enter other impulse categories. Source: ACNielsen Value sales £k ice cream under 1 litre, Grocers, CTNS & forecourts 4 weekly average sales since launch 29 Jan 26 Feb 25 Mar 22 Apr 20 May 17 Jun 15 Jul 12 Aug 09 Sep 07 Oct 04 Nov 02 Dec 30 Dec 1 . Premium Birds Eye Wall's Carte d'Or Nocciolato 249.4 0 0 5 102 188 611 521 304 252 196 192 164 208 2 . Premium Birds Eye Wall's Carte d'Or Creme Caramel 192.8 0 0 0 35 90 450 407 210 170 140 143 124 159 3 . Premium Frederick's Dairies multi portion ice cream Cadbury's Crunchie 185.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 21 358 176 4. Premium Frederick's Dairies multi portion ice cream Cadbury's Dairy Milk 170.0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 17 327 166 5. Premium Frederick's Dairies multi portion ice cream Cadbury's Caramel 155.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 16 302 149 6 . Super Premium Pillsbury Häagen-Dazs multi portion ice cream extra Cookie Dough Chip 108.0 0 0 0 17 41 73 90 97 91 86 143 207 235 7. Premium Frederick's Dairies multi portion ice cream Cadbury's Dairy Vanilla 107.7 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 0 9 194 120 8. Super Premium Pillsbury Häagen-Dazs multi portion ice cream Chocolate Fudge Swirl 83.3 0 0 1 28 48 57 64 62 65 114 119 88 270 9. Super Premium Pillsbury Häagen-Dazs multi portion ice cream extra Caramel Cone 82.4 0 0 2 26 46 75 84 90 87 68 106 100 222 10. Super Premium Ben & Jerry's ice cream Chubby Hubby 75.9 0 0 4 59 111 100 92 96 93 76 78 63 63 *Launch = first 4 weekly period showing value sales on database Source: ACNielsen RMS Copyright ACNielsen 2001 {{FOCUS SPECIALS }}