Eggnog whipped cream: A fleeting festive data delight

Much like candy canes, eggnog is something generally only found on store shelves during the festive season. Whipped cream, thankfully, is available year-round. Both of these creamy delights are made right here in Canada. Data and recipe inside…

Making eggnog whipped cream requires four parts whipped cream to one part eggnog, with sugar sprinkled on top and a shot of alcohol (optional). Luckily, Canada’s pantry is well stocked with all of these ingredients.

Eggnog: Get it while supplies last

Brace yourself readers: from May through August every year, virtually no eggnog is made or available in Canada. Thankfully, production begins ramping up in September and peaks in December… just in time for prime eggnog drinking season.

In 2023, the most recent year for which a full year of data are available, eggnog production rose from 843 kilolitres in September to peak at 5 117 kilolitres in December. A small run of eggnog is also produced for the Easter holidays. Overall, 10 935 kilolitres of eggnog were produced by Canadian processors in 2023, down 4.9% from one year earlier.

September 2024 eggnog numbers just came out last week. Eggnog lovers will be shocked to hear the commercial sales were down 53.0% from one year earlier to 396 kilolitres.

Whipped cream provides joy year-round

Unlike eggnog, whipped cream is produced and sold year-round in Canada with less monthly or seasonal variation. In 2023, 58 910 kilolitres of whipped cream were produced, down 1.1% from one year earlier and 4.8 below the record high in 2017.

Visions of sugar beets danced in their heads

We don’t grow sugar cane commercially here in Canada, but we do grow something equally sweet: sugar beets. In fact, an estimated 10% of all sugar consumed nationally comes from Canadian-grown sugar beets.

In 2023, Canadian farmers harvested 1.2 million tonnes of sugar beets, down from the record high 1.4 million tonnes harvested in 2018 but double what was produced one decade earlier.

Although they belong to the same root veggie family, sugar beets differ from the beets seen in the produce section of supermarkets.

Alcohol optional

Alcohol, usually in the form of a spirit, can also be mixed into eggnog whipped cream to add some holiday cheer.

Overall, liquor authorities and other retail outlets sold $6.9 billion worth of spirits in 2022/2023, up 3.0% from one year earlier. Whisky (29.4%), vodka (23.0%) and liqueurs (15.2%) were the most popular spirits sold, accounting for approximately two-thirds of total spirit sales. 

Just over three in four Canadian adults (77%) drank alcohol in 2023.