Looking at: plant-based ice cream

In recent years, the plant-based ice cream market has been booming: It is estimated that the CAGR in terms of new product launches rose by around 30% between 2016 and 2020, with plant-based ice creams accounting for over 20% of the total products launched in this period. Within the sector, we can find animal-free products alongside those with a low sugar content or a so-called ‘clean label’, thus highlighting that plant-based ice creams appeal not only to those consumers who adopt a vegan, vegetarian or flexitarian diet, but also those who are lactose-intolerant or keen to find alternative or healthier products.

Ice cream makes us happy (and there is evidence!)

Ice cream is one of those products that is loved by almost all consumers, and with the arrival of the warmer season, it becomes an essential food item. That’s also because ice cream is associated with moments of “pleasure” and happiness linked to the product. That is really the case, ice cream makes people happy: a study carried out by a team of neuroscientists at the London Institute of Psychiatry shows that eating ice cream has an effect on certain parts of the brain that are known to be activated when people are happy or having fun. These include the orbitofrontal cortex, which is linked to emotional pleasure and produces a sense of “reward” when we eat ice cream.

This factor falls totally within the trend referred to by Mintel as “Unguilty Pleasure”, in other words the tendency of consumers to see food as a moment of pleasure to indulge in to ease their everyday concerns. Ice cream brands can seize the opportunity provided by this trend to develop products that are not only good and satisfying but also healthy, to encourage consumers to treat themselves to ice cream without “feeling guilty”. What’s more, they would be aware of consuming a product that helps them to take care of themselves and of their mental health and physical health.

Trends in Europe and North America in the plant-based ice-cream sector

Judging from the trends of the sector recorded in the report by Mintel “A year of innovation in plant-based drinks, yogurts & ice cream, 2023”, oats is one of the main basic ingredients in the new plant-based ice creams launched in Europe. This is due to the fact that oats seem to be a highly versatile basic ingredient for plant-based ice creams given their relatively neutral taste compared to the off-notes of other vegetable proteins (such as those of soy and pea), which have to be covered by the addition of flavourings or masking agents.

The main focus, both in Europe and North America, is still on taste. According to the report, in fact, around 31% of adults in the US who buy ice cream would like to see alternative, plant-based products that are equally as good and tasty as conventional ice creams. In addition to taste, the texture of plant-based ice creams appears to appeal less to consumers, who find that the creamy consistency of plant-based ice creams is not quite up to that of ice cream made with animal ingredients. Nevertheless, it appears that consumers who buy plant-based ice creams are willing to compromise on taste and texture if other attributes are contained that are important to them, such as nutritional claims (e.g. low sugar content, high fibre or protein content) or claims regarding product sustainability (e.g. ethical and recyclable packaging).

• Claim: in Europe, 88% of vegetable-based ice creams launched in 2022 underlined the fact of being vegan, followed by environmentally friendly (66.4%), allergen-reduced (65.6%) vegetable-based (52.8%), recyclable (52.0%), and sustainable (45.6%). In North America, the focus was on claims of allergen-reduced products (97.6%), and vegan (78.8%).
• Flavour: chocolate remains the most popular both in Europe (20.0%) and in North America (22.4%), followed by vanilla. In both regions, there has been a trend for the introduction of flavours linked to bakery products, such as cookies and cream, brownies, cheesecake, fudge, or salted caramel.
• Serving options: the most common option, both in Europe (73.6%) and North America (69.4%), remains ice cream in large or individual tubs, followed by ice creams on a stick.

Future product innovations will certainly focus on improving the taste of vegetable ice creams, in order to make them as similar as possible to the conventional product. Other characteristics such as a creamy consistency and melting rate are other areas that require attention to obtain products that are good and palatable. There is no doubt that the sector will develop quickly in the coming years, with much attention on the big brands, such as Unilever, Danone, Lidl, Valsoia, and many more, which in recent years have greatly expanded their range of plant-based products or added plant-based alternatives to existing products.