Our ice cream brands have been serving treats and smiles to consumers for 100 years. And while the classic vanilla and chocolate combo is still adored across our entire portfolio, today’s ice cream lovers are keen to experiment. Here’s how we create innovations that deliver.
Whether it’s from a spoon, a cone, on a stick or in a dish, our brands have been finding innovative ways to serve up delicious, indulgent ice creams and frozen treats that create happy memories for consumers for more than 100 years.
“As the maker of iconic and adored brands, we are constantly looking at trends and innovations to bring frozen treat lovers new experiences that they will enjoy,” says Vice President, Unilever Ice Cream North America, Russel Lilly.
And for good reason. Markets are buoyant, in the US, 45% of consumers of frozen treats say ice cream is their favourite indulgence, with sales in North America exceeding?annually. In Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), consumption is around 4.6kg per year annually. In Europe, Middle East and Africa (EMEA), consumption is around 4.6kg per year. And sales from new, innovative products accounts for a bigger part compared to other food product categories.
The secret sauce to successful ice cream innovation
Developing a new ice cream innovation can be a whole lot of fun, but it also requires a great deal of teamwork. “It takes an entire village of consumer insight experts, R&D and marketing teams to really drive meaningful ice cream innovation,” says Glenn Handoko, Global Brand Manager for Wall’s Classics and Masterbrands. “But we all start by putting the consumer’s needs first.”
“That means finding out what they’re looking for and what their current solution to that problem is. Then we hit the drawing board and focus on five key areas of incremental innovation – size, flavour, format, sub-brand, and brand innovation – to see if we can help address it or give them something better.”
And that strategy is delivering results. “This year, we’re excited to introduce inventive flavours, increased variety and reimagined takes on classics to your favourite retailers,” says Russel Lilly. “We’ve also expanded our popular lines to create products that will bring joy all year long.”
Read on to find out how the teams flexed each of the five areas to bring five fresh new product lines to market in 2021–2022.
Size – Indulgent, plant-based minis of Magnum bestsellers
While the uptick in vegan diets provided Magnum with a strong case for extending its much-loved classic range to include plant-based alternatives; vegans are not the only consumers attracted to a non-dairy offering.
In a Euromonitor survey, nearly 40% of people said they are looking to plant-based dairy alternatives to ‘feel healthier’. Other reasons include: “I digest them better”. Add to this mix, 44.8% of Gen Z consumers who snack up to twice a day and 49.4% of whom choose ice cream when they do, and you have a set of data that saw the brand teams look to flex size and plant-based as part of their innovation mix.
Vegan Magnum Mini Classics were launched in January 2022 as a multi-pack including three mini bars of classic and almond vegan flavours. The range, with PETA award-winning flavours, has proved a hit with consumers and has now been rolled out to the US, Canada, the UK, the Netherlands, the Nordics, and Central and Eastern Europe.
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