My response when asked if a new ice cream can make it successfully in the retail market: “There have been many successful vanillas since Ben & Jerry’s launched theirs.”
Frozen desserts have been around since first century AD and our love of frozen treats compelled us to concoct everything from ice cream, ice milk, non-dairy, sherbet and sorbet to frozen yogurt and gelato. I suspect the frozen treats we love will continue to delight us well into the future. The only question, is there still room for the industry to continue to evolve and maintain our interest and excite our taste buds?
I say, absolutely.
In fact, right now the frozen dessert industry is taking an interesting – and fun – turn. It used to be that brands were lower in butterfat (BF) percentage and higher in air content. Flavors were basic and many artificially flavored, adding small inclusions like chocolate chips pieces and crushed nuts were used to distinguish themselves in the market. Now, because of science and technology we are able to step into the future of frozen desserts hand in hand with the potential to infuse ice cream with components that prior to this would have blemished its flavor and/or texture.
Meet Momenti Spirited Ice Creams, located in Las Vegas NV, inspired by Leif Pearson, a foodie and chief creative ice cream maker. Full disclosure, Momenti is a client of mine. That does not change the fact that their product is supremely tasty and their ice cream is the perfect example of where the frozen dessert industry may be trending.
Making alcohol infused ice cream is not an easy task, but Pearson has found the ideal cocktail, mixing liqueur with ice cream to offer flavors like Vanilla Vodka Cookies & Cream, Chocotini Chip and White Russian Pecan and gourmet line of sorbets including Limoncello and Blackberry Cabernet.
The challenge in making alcohol-infused ice cream and sorbet is maintaining a quick-freeze process to harden the product, while being able to use a gracious amount of spirits and in the case of Momenti a ABV of 5% (alcohol by volume). Pearson has perfected the science behind infusing Momenti Spirited Ice Creams with alcohol, evident in the fact that despite its high alcohol content it remains rich and creamy, with a high butter fat content and minimum amount of air so “super premium” in more ways than one.
My guess is, we can probably expect to see Momenti continue to introduce cutting-edge flavors to the industry, complimenting those flavors with up to an ABV of 13% — that’s promising.
The future of ice cream looks bright, because brands like Momenti Spirited Ice Creams will continue to break the “average” barrier with innovation and quality.
A little history and a look at the present
As a child of the 50’s the frozen dessert selection was either ice cream (guessing 10%-12% BF) or sherbet (a combination of dairy and flavored ice). Add-ins were small, flavors were basic and colors were always added so the customer could see the flavor (think mint chocolate chip). Besides the seasonal mom & pop ice cream hut, ice cream treats came mainly came from the grocery store, carry-out or, for a real treat, Howard Johnson’s, Baskin-Robbins or the corner drug store with counter-service only.
I am proud to say I was active and part of the new and trendy ice cream scene, starting Darryl’s Homemade Ice Cream Factory in 1978, because I loved going to Steve’s Ice Cream in Cambridge MA. Making fresh ice cream, through the process of freezing it using salt and ice, then folding in treats like M&M’s and whole salted almonds. Other “never heard of” flavors included Oreo Cookie (yes, I could use the name back then), soft chocolate swirled in sweet cream using a liquid bittersweet chocolate, chocolate peanut butter swirl, mint chocolate chunk without color and coconut almond fudge.
The period from 1978 – 1986 were fast, fun and creative. We had hippies like Ben & Jerry going after the Häagen-Dazs customer. Ben & Jerry innovated by introducing flavors like Mint Oreo, loading it with huge pieces of cookie. They used whole strawberries without red color.
The basic ice cream was falling out of favor with the customer and Super Premiums were being sought out. 10% BF upgraded to 16%, small piece inclusions turned into large chunks, artificial turned All Natural and 100% over run (air) was lowered to 30%. Pint cup companies like Sweetheart had difficulty keeping pace with demand, so filling equipment engineers worked over time trying to figure out how to get big things into small cups.
The public lapped it up and requested new, interesting flavor concoctions.
Here we are in 2016. Now it is easy to access your favorite flavor of ice cream in anything from high-fat ice cream to no-fat non-dairy frozen dessert — and so many flavors too. Think, savory gourmet popsicles, trendy frozen yogurt, fruit puree sorbets, sea salt anything, ganache ripples and flavors like Honey Jalapeño Pickle ice cream.
Looking back at the transition from 1978 till today, I realize the ice cream and frozen dessert industry has not disappointed. Based on past performance, I can say the future looks exciting. Furthermore, with companies like Momenti Spirited Ice Creams launching innovative products, how could anyone possibly be disappointed?
Contact Darryl to help you get your concept off the ground.
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