Desserts and ice cream: Experts flag innovation to relieve tension, offer comfort through indulgence and escape stress

17 Jul 2024 --- Comfort, indulgence and excitement are significant trends within the desserts and ice cream space, as consumers want to escape the bombardment of politically and economically challenging times around the world. 

Conflicts, tensions, the cost-of-living crisis, the ongoing recovery from the COVID-19 pandemic, and its impact on health trends are influencing an increased move toward “feel good” food and beverages. Consumers want a treat but also desire healthy indulgence.

And as summer gets into full swing in the northern hemisphere, appetites for desserts and ice cream are ramping up. Industry experts from Arla Foods Ingredients, Agrana Fruits, IFF, Prinova and SVZ talk to Food Ingredients First about trends and market dynamics impacting dessert and ice cream innovation.

“We like to describe the current consumer mood as ‘comfort from the known with a twist of excitement.’ Times keep being challenging; thus, consumers long for comfort but want to experience something new. That is why we see nostalgia, cross-category inspirations, and mashups (especially from the confectionery, bakery, and beverage categories), and a strong Asian influence with regards to taste and texture trending,” says Melanie Sturm, Agrana Fruit's global market & consumer insights manager.

Nostalgia, cross-category inspirations and mashups are trending in the ice cream and desserts category, says Sturm (Image credit: Agrana Fruit).“All of them build on the main consumer drivers of pleasure, indulgence, and multi-sensory experience. Besides this, health, naturality and sustainability are further consumer drivers becoming more relevant in the dessert and ice cream space with product trends like bite-size and snack formats, healthier options, or plant-based and upcycled ingredients.”

Holistic health and wellness
A recent IFF report highlighted how the dessert and ice cream space is dominated by the “better-being” megatrend that emerged during the pandemic. Consumers are increasingly seeking products that support a proactive, holistic approach to their health and wellness, flags Rogerio De Almeida Prado Guimaraes, global category director, Dairy & BBC, at IFF.

“Another key trend is ‘simple frugality,’ with price-sensitive consumers looking to balance value for money and affordability with quality, in a sector that has been hit hard by inflation.”

“But we can’t forget that indulgence continues to be an important drive for the category, and classic flavors such as vanilla and chocolate play an important role when innovating in the category.”

Research from Prinova’s recent Functional Health Trends report identified emerging trends for 2024 and beyond that are shaping the entire industry. “Playing into the dessert and ice cream space, the ‘Healthy Me, Healthy Planet’ megatrend highlights increasing consumer demand for products that support their health, respect the planet, and provide indulgence and comfort,” explains James Street, global marketing director at Prinova.

“This includes plant-based options, reduced-sugar products, and those with additional functional benefits, such as green tea and ginkgo biloba, which are scientifically supported, polyphenol-rich ingredients for health and well-being.” 

Moreover, IFF research backs up what it describes as the “neo-hedonism megatrend” — a shift toward pleasure-centric lifestyles, which the company says is influencing the entire F&B space. 

“Our proprietary research has found that 50% of global consumers are rewarding themselves more than they did before the pandemic. This is particularly influential in categories associated with indulgence, such as ice cream and desserts. Brands can play into this trend by adding complex or unusual flavors and textures to enhance indulgence and premiumization, create novelty, and upsell standard products,” says Guimaraes.

Healthy indulgence 
Street explains that consumers are looking for ways to seamlessly incorporate healthy changes into their everyday lives during the current cost-of-living crisis. Healthy indulgence is a key concept here.

Healthy indulgence helps consumers enjoy the escape from everyday stresses in the shape of desserts and ice creams with value-added ingredients.“It (healthy indulgence) helps consumers enjoy the comfort and escape from everyday stresses in the shape of desserts and ice creams with value-added ingredients that support their well-being. For plant-based products, for example, our micronutrient premixes are rich in nutrients that can be lacking in vegan and vegetarian diets, such as vitamin B12, vitamin D, and calcium. This makes them ideal for indulgent products with “better-for-you” appeal.”

Healthy indulgence is fundamental to contemporary ice cream innovation, echoes Dejan Trifunović, SVZ’s business intelligence manager. 

“Consumers increasingly seek guilt-free treats that satisfy cravings without compromising on well-being. As a supplier of natural fruit and vegetable ingredients, SVZ helps brands create innovative ice cream and desserts that strike this elusive balance, with our fruit purees and concentrates providing natural sweetness and boosting nutritional value while reducing the need for added sugars,” he tells Food Ingredients First.

“Beyond the always popular red fruit flavors, we’ve witnessed successful applications that incorporate unexpected ingredients into ice cream formulations, adding a healthy halo and unique flavor notes. A prime example is a recently launched pre-workout ice cream in Spain (Beam Super Gelato Pre-Workout Red Passion Ice Cream), which combines beetroot juice with other functional ingredients to support fitness goals and provide indulgence.”

“By leveraging SVZ’s fruit and vegetable ingredients, brands can tap into the ‘permissible indulgence’ trend for natural and dairy options, offering consumers guilt-free desserts with improved taste and texture. “This approach aligns perfectly with the growing consumer interest in products that are both delicious and nutritious, meeting the demands of today’s health-conscious pleasure-seeker,” he continues.

Better-for-you ice cream
Sturm believes that permissible or guilt-free indulgence is a key trend as consumers want to balance indulgence and health. 

“Better-for-you ice cream is a growing niche in the market with two directions: removing some of the “nasties” or adding some of the “goodies.” This includes high protein options, low calorie or sugar-reduced ice cream, superfood ice cream (added botanicals, seeds, cereals, superfruits), or 100% fruit ice cream.”

“As formulation experts for consumer-loved ice cream bases, sauces, toppings, or coatings, we can offer solutions for all of them. Our product development specialists know which fruits pair well with what type of botanicals or which sweetening solutions to use to create a well-balanced ice cream.”

Adding the right ingredients to desserts can add both nutritional value and sensory qualities to desserts, says Rossen (Image credit: Arla Foods Ingredients).She further highlights 100% fruit ice cream sticks as Agrana Fruit’s specialty, since they are “fully natural, have no added sugar, flavor or color and offer a creamy texture and well-balanced taste profile.” Its variations include apple, banana, kiwi and lime or apple, banana, cranberry and cherry.”

Wholesome desserts
Karina Jervelund Rossen, sales development manager at Arla Foods Ingredients, cites Innova Market Insights data that says taste and indulgence are the key reasons for consuming desserts and ice cream, but health is also a key purchase motivator. 

“Desserts don’t often get the opportunity to stand out as a wholesome choice, but the right ingredients can add both nutritional value and sensory qualities. So, for example, Nutrilac functional milk proteins can help you create products that deliver both great taste and high protein content,” she says.

“Desserts and ice creams is a fascinating category. It’s all about pleasure and indulgence, but it has also been significantly shaped by the growing focus on health and nutrition and the need for better-for-you options. Consumers want high-protein, low-fat or low-sugar versions of their favorite desserts and ice creams, but there’s no way they’re going to compromise on taste and texture.”

One Arla Foods Ingredients solution is the Nutrilac ProteinBoost line of milk proteins based on patented microparticulation technology. Rich in all nine essential amino acids, they can be used to create high-protein ice cream (providing up to 15% protein content), yogurt and other dairy desserts.

“In addition to protein enrichment, our Nutrilac range of functional milk proteins can help meet a range of needs for both health-conscious consumers and manufacturers. They can optimize viscosity, melting properties and shrinking resistance in ice cream and fill the sensory gap in high protein, low-fat, low-sugar formulations,” Rossen continues. 

Growth opportunities
A wide range of ice cream products carrying protein claims is commercially available. However, consumers are increasingly focused not only on getting more protein but also on getting high protein quality, as well as indulgent products, flags Rossen.

Street sees substantial untapped potential in plant-based ice creams across global markets (Image credit: Prinova).“We foresee further development in the protein trend. Demand for high-protein products will continue, but there will also be a focus on improving nutritional quality without compromising on taste, sensory characteristics and functionality.”

“We’ll also see brands building on the “less-is-more” and downsizing in serving sizes - but with the same or higher protein content per serving. This goal can be met by including Nutrilac ProteinBoost in the formulation.”

Street at Prinova cites the increasing demand for sugar-free or low-sugar products as a driver pushing the market for sweeteners. In addition to offering a wide range of sweeteners, we can help manufacturers with new product development introduce low-sugar and sugar-free alternatives to their dessert and ice cream product lines.

“The trend toward plant-based and functional desserts is creating opportunities for brands to incorporate nutrient-rich fruits and vegetables, enhancing nutritional profiles without sacrificing taste or indulgence,” adds Trifunović.

“There’s still substantial untapped potential to take first-mover advantage in plant-based ice creams across global markets. In China, for example, nearly 70% of adults haven’t tried plant-based ice cream but express interest in doing so, indicating a curious and receptive market.”

 “Consumer adventurousness is on the up and we expect to see more exciting and exotic fruit flavors such as the gold kiwi gain traction, with those that provide premium indulgence seeing the strongest growth.”

By Gaynor Selby