More flavors, more choices: light ice cream, frozen yogurt, and whole fruit sorbets offer more pleasure and less guilt, while palletized ice cream is moving into your grocer's freezer

Dairy Foods, March, 2008 by David Phillips

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Ice Cream is always synonymous with variety and choice. Back in the day, Howard Johnson's had 28 flavors of ice cream, not yogurt. In 2008, there is more variety, more flavor, and more innovation in the ice cream aisle than ever before.

Churned, and other lighter products are more plentiful than ever. Frozen yogurt continues to mount a comeback. There are freezers full of no-sugar-added products, and organic options are coming from established regional players in Ohio and New York, not just from entrepreneurs near Madison or on the left coast. New forms, new package sizes, portion control approaches and new flavor trends abound. The cost of milk and cream is a serious issue right now, so what's an ice cream maker to do? Some national marketers have chucked the standards of identity altogether for some new products--"have a little ice cream with your Oreos and Goo-Goo Clusters" they seem to be saying. Some ice cream makers responding to our survey say they are going from a 56 oz to a 48 oz container.

Others say "price/schmice! Ice cream is still cheap fun compared to taking a drive in the country."

Speaking of going for a drive, the on-premise side of the business is doing well, and in fact, some innovations from the scoop shops and mall kiosks are finding their way into the supermarket. For instance we've written about pelletized ice cream before, and even documented some attempts to duplicate the Dippin' Dots experience for take-home, but this year there is a battle of the beads brewing with two in-store products building significant markets while the growth of on premise business in cryogenically frozen ice cream continues (see related story page 58).

Before we drive this any farther, let's take a look at some quantifiable product introduction trends provided by the researchers at Mintel Custom Solutions. More stats and analysis can also be found in Dairy Market Trends (page 42).

Slimmer and trimmer

Ice cream is associated with fun and indulgence, but even it can't escape the trends of sustainability and health & wellness that are so pervasive in today's food industry. According to the Mintel Global New Products Database (GNPD), low/no/reduced fat was the second most popular claim in 2007 among U.S. frozen desserts. Only kosher claims were more prevalent than reduced fat positioning. Low/no/reduced fat claims have been bolstered by the popularity of "churned" formulations, which offer traditional taste and texture with significantly less fat and fewer calories. Edy's/Dreyer's introduced slow churned ice cream to Americans in 2004, but three years later, these products continue to be one of ice cream's most notable trends. A number of churned products, including Breyers' Double Churn Light Ice Cream Bars, were launched in 2007.

Ice creams with health & wellness positioning go beyond churned formulations, however. The 100 calorie pack trend, which first appeared in snacks, has already migrated to ice cream. Klondike's Slim A Bear 100 Calorie Sandwiches and Blue Bunny's 100 Calorie Ice Cream Bars were among the 2007 launches that relied on portion control to differentiate themselves from higher calorie competitors.

In other parts of the world, ice cream manufacturers have taken a different approach to product innovation. Probiotics, which are just beginning to appear in U.S. cheese, cottage cheese and milk products, have already moved into the ice cream category in Europe and Asia. These probiotic-rich ice creams marry indulgence with functionality, but as of yet, the concept has not been introduced in North America. By contrast, frozen yogurts offer many of the same benefits of probiotic ice creams and they are available in U.S. supermarkets. Bolstered by the popularity of frozen yogurt chains like Pinkberry and Red Mango, companies like Dean's and Haagen-Dazs introduced new frozen yogurt products in 2007.

Just as health and wellness is driving ice cream innovation, sustainability concerns are also influencing new product development. In particular, organic ice creams have gained traction in grocery freezers. According to Mintel GNPD, U.S. organic ice cream launches nearly doubled from 2005 to 2007. While some of these products boast gourmet, premium positioning, others are more focused on "free from" claims. The Good Karma and Soy Dream brands, for instance, focus on dairy-free formulations. Other organic ice creams, including those from Ben & Jerry's and Horizon Organic, offer a more traditional indulgence, albeit one with "green" credentials.

The rise of organic ice creams has paved the way for the category's newest sustainability trend--Fairtrade. The Fairtrade movement promises fair working conditions and prices for laborers in developing countries. Its origins are in categories like coffee and chocolate, but it has recently extended to European ice creams. Ben & Jerry's has been a leader in Fairtrade ice cream, launching Fairtrade-certified products in the UK, Netherlands and France. Major UK retailers including Sainsbury's and Marks & Spencer have also introduced Fairtrade frozen treats. Given this European Fairtrade activity by major players, it is likely that 2008 could be the year of Fairtrade ice cream in the U.S.