This month, you will discover how a new wave of Artificial Intelligence technology is revolutionising our ice cream industry by reducing R&D processes to just 90 days!
Not only that, but we are also looking at how celebrities are leveraging the ice cream market and vice-versa. Last but not least, check out how NESTLÉ plans to revamp the traditional cone market by subsituting wafer with cookie!
There is so much coming up in these months that we had to make some tough selections. Interested to get the full picture? Sign up to our newsletter and receive our selection of new & surprising flavours / shapes for APRIL directly into your email box.
NEW TRENDS
- WILDGOOD extend plant-based sources with OLIVE OIL Ice Cream -
We have talked a lot about plant-based ice creams and frozen desserts in this What’s New series, but this one is a first for us. Introducing Olive Oil non-dairy frozen dessert pints by WILDGOOD, inspired by the Mediterannean diet and available to buy from select retailers across the US (like Shoprite, Wegmans, and Harris Teeter) from April 5. Also available for purchasing online starting May 1 in the US.
Designed by a Greek artisanal ice cream maker who wanted to create a healthier fat alternative dessert, this non-dairy alternative boasts less than 2g of saturated fat per serving.
Backed by famous faces such as celebrity chef Bobby Flay, the brand now has seven flavours including sea salt caramel, mint chocolate chip, chocolate, chocolate hazelnut, mango, pistachio, and coffee and vanilla bean, but there are more flavour innovations on the way.
- LIVE GREEN: the 1st ice cream developped by ARTIFICIAL INTELLIGENCE -
AI technology is moving into the ice cream space with companies like THE LIVE GREEN Co. who are using their food technology to develop more sustainable plant-based frozen desserts in 90 days or less which, as you will know, is an incredibly short timeframe for a typical R&D process which can usually take up to 1 year.
Using only natural, plant-based ingredients like bananas, avocados and sunflower seeds, The Live Green Co. are creating a new portfolio of frozen desserts that are 100% vegan-friendly and follow a clean-label, as well as being gluten-free, soy-free and lactose-free.
The brand will be initially launching in the Chilean market in Jumbo retailers and will launch with three flavours: chocolate chip, chocolate almond, and berries.
This follows the launch a year ago of NOTMILK, the 1st plant-based milk made by AI to be introduced in the US, a brand backed by Jeff Bezos. Is that the future of R&D?
- Extrême-ly good, NESTLÉ’s New COOKIE CONE -
Nestlé brand, Extrême, have just released an ice cream cone with a cookie dough cone into the French market. Inspired by the popular US treat of oven-baked cookie dough, Extrême wanted to add a little more novelty by shaping it into a cone along with an indulgent chocolate sauce and cookie chips.
Currently available in four varieties including: vanilla cookie-cone with caramel sauce, chocolate cookie-cone with chocolate sauce, caramel cookie-cone with caramel sauce, and a hazelnut cookie-cone with chocolate sauce. They will be retailing in packs of 4 for €4.50 per box in all major French supermarkets from May 1st. A nice disruption to the very traditional cone market!
- Get the Scoop: CELEBRITIES creating Ice Cream -
The ice cream market has become such a popular one that even the celebrities want a piece of the action! Co-branding is the norm in the ice cream industry but now we are seeing collaborations between brands and celebrities as well.
A year ago, Selena Gomez partnered with New York’s famous Serendipity restaurant to create an ice cream based on the classic Cookies and Cream flavour, but made with pink vanilla ice cream and thick fudge swirl and brown cream-filled cookie pieces. But Selena is not alone with Tyra Banks and Dolly Parton also releasing their own ice cream flavours.
Tyra Banks launched ‘SMiZE Cream’ which is available in six flavours: “Brownies, I Love You,” “Caramel Cookie Queen,” “Strawberry BirthYAY! Cake,” “Purple Cookie Mon-Star & Me,” “Salted Caramel King,” and “The Best Vanilla I Ever Had.” The name is inspired by her signature model look of “smiling with your eyes”. It will be available later in the year from her first store in California’s Santa Monica Place, followed by an online store.
Dolly’s ice cream is an extension of Jeni’s ice cream range and is called Strawberry Pretzel Pie which consists of layers of salty pretzel, sweet cream cheese ice cream, and strawberry sauce.
Should manufacturers start to think about which celebrity to associate with their products? After cross-branding (converting a popular brand into an ice cream offering), will celebrity co-branding be the next thing?
PRODUCT LINE EXTENSIONS
- YASSO invest in snacking formats with healthy Poppables -
Yasso Poppables are the first in a new snacking line from the brand who brought us the world’s first frozen Greek yoghurt bar. The Poppables are creamy frozen Greek yogurt bites covered in a chocolatey coating and sprinkled with a quinoa crunch topping.
Boasting a mere 60 calories each and without any artificial ingredients but plenty of healthy live cultures and active ingredients, the Poppables come in four flavours: coffee, sea salt caramel, vanilla bean and mint.
You will find them available to purchase online at Yasso’s online store, and in select retailers across the US such as Wegmans, Kroger, Jewel Osco, Hannaford and Harris Teeter where they can be purchased in 6-packs for $6.49 per box.
- GRENADE launches into UK Ice Cream Market -
GRENADE, the UK high-protein bar company recently acquired by Mondelez, are ticking a lot of UK consumer demand boxes with their new ice cream launch which is high in protein, low in carbohydrates. A protein-boosted launch for their first frozen release!
Available in two flavours: White Chocolate Cookie and Peanut Nutter, Grenade are targeting these ice creams with the fitness community in mind. Their white chocolate flavour consists of vanilla protein ice cream with chocolate sauce, topped with a layer of chocolate cookie crumb and covered in white milk chocolate. One bar has only 120 calories, 6.5g protein and 1.7g of sugar.
Their Peanut Nutter flavour is made with caramel protein ice cream and a caramel sauce, topped with a layer of roasted peanuts and coated in milk chocolate. One bar in this flavour has 137 calories, 6.9g of protein and 0.9g of sugar.
UK consumers will be able to find them in Tesco stores at an RRP of £5 per 4-pack, and they will also be available from company-owned Blakemore convenience stores.
- NESTLÉ's MAXIBON: from Wafer to Waffle -
While we saw earlier in the article that NESTLÉ are moving from wafer to cookie in their cones, they are also moving from cookie to waffle here with their new Maxibon Waffle innovation and offering consumers a new texture experience through traditional brands they already love.
Maxibon’s caramelized waffle biscuit is available in ‘blonde caramel’ flavour in the Spanish and Italian markets at €3.99 for a 4x90g pack.
- KIND of a big deal -
Further to the launch of frozen smoothie bowls last month, KIND is now going all-in with the ice cream category thanks to the launch this month of a vegan ice cream tub range for the US market.
Seven flavours make up the new additions to Kind’s frozen range: Dark Chocolate Almond Sea Salt, Cherry Cashew, Dark Chocolate Peanut Butter, Coffee Hazelnut, Caramel Almond Sea Salt, Pistachio, and Strawberry.
- HABBIT: even less calories than HALO TOP? -
India-based brand, HABBIT Health have launched what they call the “healthiest ice creams ever made” claiming to be the lowest calorie ice creams in the world at just 30-50 calories per serving instead of the more common 250-260 calories. They have also managed to reduce the fat content from an average of about 17% in traditional ice creams to just 2% and are working on reducing the sugar content to 0% through natural sweeteners.
Indian consumers can find HABBIT ice cream in six flavours currently including Blueberry Crumble, Salted Caramel, Matcha Green Tea, Double Chocolate, Lychee Blush, and Vintage Vanilla. They are selling in 2x500ml packs for INR899 (€10/$11.99 USD) and 6x125ml packs for INR799 (€8.89 /$10.65 USD).
- LIDL Lowers Calories in Ice Cream -
Thought low calories ice cream was a trend that had already busted? Think twice! More companies keep investing in this segment, such as giant retailer LIDL. Created to compete with the top brands in low-calorie ice cream, Lidl in Ireland have launched a new range of low calorie ice cream pints targeting health & wellness consumers. Will it be rolled out internationally in all LIDL?
At an average of approximately 300 calories per tub, they can be found on LIDL shelves in three flavours: Chocolate, Peanut Butter, and Salted Caramel at a price of €2.75 per pint.
- HALO TOP moves on KETO Trend -
HALO TOP is capitalising on the Keto trend with their new Keto Pops launch this month. Made with ultra-filtered skimmed milk to ensure fewer net carbs, and with more protein than most traditional ice creams, the Pops come in four flavours: sea salt caramel, chocolate cheesecake, peanut butter chocolate, and berry swirl. Each pop has between 130-180 calories per Pop, 3g of protein, and 2-3g of net carbs. They are sold in 4x2.65oz packs for a SRP of $4.99.
In addition to the Keto Pops, HALO TOP has expanded their Keto range already with three new Keto Tubs as well which are inspired by classic desserts that everyone loves. The flavours include: brownie a la mode, chocolate caramel lava cake, and vanilla bean pint. In keeping with the healthier trend, each pint includes between 410-570 total calories, 18-19g of protein, and 4-10g of net carbs. They can be found in US retailers at $4.99 USD per pint.
- CO-BRANDING is a trend in Spain -
Spanish brands are embracing the co-branding trend by teaming up to create a wide variety of new innovations in the ice cream sector. It seems to be an easy way for brands to expand into new territories and across categories. UNILEVER and LACREM (the Spanish producer behind FARGGI and LA MENORQUINA) are two companies who have taken advantage of the success that co-branding partnerships can bring with the following launches:
CORNETTO (Unilever) and NOCILLA (Spain’s version of Nutella) have joined forces to create an XXL Sandwich and Cornetto-style cone.
LACREM and CACAOLAT (a Spanish milk chocolate beverage brand) have teamed up to create a new vanilla and chocolate ice cream stick in the shape of the famed CACAOLAT bottle. Nicely done!
Based on the partnership between DANONE and LACREM last year with the agreement to distribute the Savia and Alpro brands in the Spanish market, both companys have also combined efforts to create Oikos first ice cream SKU. The latter is made with 40% Oikos natural yoghurt and is available in two flavours: salted caramel & hazelnuts, and Dark Chocolate & Almonds, and come in 500ml tubs.
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ABOUT INNODELICE
Founded by former executives in the Ice Cream industry, INNODELICE aims to create a worldwide ecosystem of solutions within the frozen dessert industry. Thanks to the relationships fostered by INNODELICE, manufacturers, brands, importers, distributors and suppliers can discover, buy and sell solutions to GROW their business. These solutions include co-manufactured and branded products as well as innovative and competitive ingredients, packaging and services. Our collaboration model generates lower costs and fewer risks for our participating partners while optimising their time to market. To learn more about INNODELICE, contact Nicolas MARIE (nicolas.marie@innodelice.com), Andrea MONTREUIL (andrea.montreuil@innodelice.com) or visit www.innodelice.com.
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