The summer is here, and with it the snack par excellence for the season: ice cream. To spice up their menus, ice cream parlours revisit classic specialities, pay attention to consumption habits, take food intolerances into consideration, offer reduced fat and low sugar ice creams, and spruce up their presentation.
Flavour, colour, price, presentation and—increasingly so—the levels of fat and calories all influence a consumer’s decision when buying ice cream. We are starting to see ice creams that include organic stevia, protein A1-free ice creams, low glycaemic index ice creams and ice creams that avoid milk protein. There are also lines of vegan ice creams. Some are made from natural ingredients that customers select on the spot. These include kombucha, one of the drinks in fashion at the moment to which are attributed numerous health benefits. In short, traditional ice-creams are all the rage right now.
Ice cream made with natural products are increasingly present in ice cream parlors
Part of the attraction of ice cream comes from its presentation. Ice cream packaging trends are focused on convenience and smaller-sized packaging. The smaller sizes are most popular because consumers admit they can enjoy ice cream more often in that way. Furthermore, convenience packaging better adapts to the “easy-to-use” principle that snacks like ice creams need to meet because they are generally consumed on-the-go. The latest ice cream fashion taking the world by storm is the Itim Pad, ice cream ‘rolls’ that originated in Thailand a few years ago but have recently become popular thanks to social media networks. It is prepared on a frozen metal plate and presented in a tub (standard or customisable cardboard tubs and now in a natural colour, see page 228).
The new cardboard tubs, in natural color, are a good option to customize with the image of your company.
Consumers also like the presentation to be original. For all kinds of ice creams, slushies, cold drinks and ice lollies, our 2018/19 catalogue includes various original, practical and sustainable presentation product ranges: biodegradable and compostable bionic containers for elegant presentation (pg. 133, 209.88, 209.89, 209.90), acrylic stands for cones (pg. 298, 119.84), wooden ice lolly sticks (new, pg. 109, 221.91), paper cones with a fun and customisable design (pg. 109), ice cream decorations (pgs. 110 and 111), paper straws for slushies and liquids (pg. 92), ice cream scoops (pg. 109) and PLA cups for slushies (575 ml model, pg. 119).
The wood ice cream sticks for artisan ice-creams (221.91), are one of the novelties of our latest catalog
It is good for stores to customise tubs, cones and napkins so that consumers relate the ice cream quality with their brand. García de Pou offers that possibility.
Even though ice cream has always been associated with good weather, it’s true that its consumption is not as seasonal as it once was and companies are starting to explore innovative ideas—such as those we have presented here—as ways to encourage the consumption of ice cream throughout the year.
