Brands should capitalise on the opportunity to develop healthier ice cream, urges Tate & Lyle

Tate & Lyle’s latest report shares the science and opportunity behind reduced sugar and fat ice cream formulated for kids.

The ingredients provider for healthier food and beverages said its report uncovers the factors driving parents’ decision making when buying ice cream for their children.

Cool for kids: The inside scoop on ice cream provides exclusive data and insights, and highlights the opportunities for brands and manufacturers.

According to the report, over 40% of parents surveyed in the UK and Germany ranked nutrition and ingredients lists as their top priorities when choosing children’s ice cream (Tate & Lyle ice cream consumer proprietary research, December 2023 – UK & Germany).

With almost two in five take-home ice cream purchases now being made by families with children (Global Data, Take home ice cream in UK, Germany, Sweden), Tate & Lyle says responding to these preferences by offering tasty, healthier ice cream for kids creates a value proposition that supports category growth for manufacturers and brands.

And as half of children consume ice cream once a day, or at least twice a week or more in the UK and Germany (Tate & Lyle ice cream proprietary research, December 2023), the report takes a closer look at how regulators are also encouraging brands to reformulate products to make them healthier through mandatory nutritional labelling schemes, including non-HFSS (high in fat, salt and sugar) and Nutri-Score.

In addition to answering public health concerns, Tate & Lyle experts argue that providing more balanced treat options for children is an industry-wide responsibility and ultimately requires collaboration with ice cream formulators, brand owners, foodservice and retailers.

Delphine Forejt, dairy category development manager at Tate & Lyle noted the evidence is now available to improve children’s eating habits, which is why it is focussing ice cream innovation efforts in Europe on children’s ice cream.

“Plus, many parents are not overly familiar with the nutritional guidelines for their children and reply on brands to make children’s options healthier,” Forejt added.

“We know there is a demand for sugar and calorie reduced ice cream, but creating this while also maintaining the great taste and texture that kids love, is technically challenging.

“It’s a challenge we’ve been working on for many years, and today we’re an industry leader in the science that’s enabling brands to boost the nutritional profile of ice cream.”

Backed by extensive, dedicated work, Tate & Lyle said it has unlocked the science that makes nutritionally balanced frozen desserts possible, without compromising the ice cream experience that kids and families want.

Recognised by our European customers as a leader in global nutrition (Tate & Lyle 2023/2022 Global Brand Equity Survey, conducted by Kadence, Europe (France, Germany, UK)) and partner of choice to many of the leading food and beverage manufacturers in Europe and beyond, Tate & Lyle has leveraged its ingredient solutions including Promitor Soluble Fibre, to provide ice cream prototypes that effectively lower sugar and fat by up to 50% and help build back the creamy and smooth mouthfeel, soft texture, and ice cream stability.

For more information and to download the full report, head to: Ice cream report 2024 (tateandlyle.com)

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