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Joyful Juxtaposition
by Julie Cook Ramirez
After decades of trial and error, ice cream makers
have struck the right balance of indulgence, great taste and healthful
attributes.
Ice cream has never been
considered a health food. Chances are you’ll probably never see an
endorsement by the American Heart Association on a pint of Chubby Hubby or
Moose Tracks.
That hasn’t stopped manufacturers from trying to
give consumers healthier options in frozen desserts. Those who are old
enough to remember the 1970s are sure to recall ice milk, hailed as a
lowfat alternative for dieters and other health-conscious consumers. And
then there’s ice cream’s venerable cousin, frozen yogurt, which
racked up some fairly impressive sales during the fat-conscious 1980s, but
has since stood by helplessly as its market share has eroded year after
year. In recent years, low-carb products flooded the market, promising
Atkins and South Beach dieters a full-bodied ice cream experience with
fewer carbohydrates.
In the eyes — and stomachs — of consumers,
however, these products didn’t deliver the true ice cream experience.
“They just didn’t deliver on taste expectations,” says
Jason Glover, marketing manager for indulgent and kid products,
Wells’ Dairy Inc., Le Mars, Iowa. “They were forced to make a
trade-off: ‘I want to have ice cream, but I need to have ice cream
that doesn’t taste good because of my particular dietary
need.’”
For several years, the backlash against so-called
“healthier” frozen desserts seemed almost visceral. Fed up with
products that just didn’t do it for them, consumers seemed determined
to seek out the most fat-laden, inclusion-filled, decadent concoctions
known to mankind.
As a result, we saw the emergence of increasingly
indulgent offerings. Even the terms used to describe top-of-the-line ice
creams were deemed no longer sufficient. Premium gave way to super-premium
and ultra-premium, as manufacturers sought to meet the demand for excess.
So what does that mean for health-conscious consumers?
Are they simply left out in the cold, shut out of the sheer joy of scooping
up a spoonful of ice cream on a warm summer’s day? With an increasing
number of Americans suffering from diabetes and other ailments that affect
— and are easily affected by — what they eat, ice cream makers
would be ill-advised to shut the door on this growing consumer segment.
Intelligent Indulgence
And they haven’t. In recent years, a significant
percent of R&D investment has gone into bolstering the better-for-you
segment of the category. South Burlington, Vt.-based Ben &
Jerry’s rolled out Body & Soul, a line of reduced-fat versions of
several of the company’s signature flavors, including Cherry Garcia
and Chocolate Chip Cookie Dough. Meanwhile, Green Bay, Wis.-based Good
Humor-Breyers Ice Cream Co. offers an entire Smart Eating line of
“healthier” ice creams, including CarbSmart, HeartSmart and
CalSmart, in addition to All Natural Light and a new line of no-sugar-added
ice cream.
Last fall, Cleveland-based Pierre’s French Ice
Cream Co. rolled out Smooth Churned Light Ice Cream, containing 50 percent
less fat and 30 percent fewer calories than regular ice cream.
And Oakland, Calif.-based Dreyer’s Grand Ice
Cream Holdings Inc., continues to garner rave reviews for its Dreyers/Edys
Grand Light, now re-named Slow-Churned Light. Available in more than two
dozen tempting flavors, including Cookies ‘N Cream, French Vanilla,
Fudge Tracks, Mint Chocolate Chips, Mocha Almond Fudge, Rocky Road, and
Cookie Dough, the Slow Churned line has recently been expanded to include
an assortment of no sugar added ice cream, including Cookie Dough, Fudge
Tracks, and Triple Chocolate Chip.
Häagen-Dazs, its sister brand in the Nestlé
family, used proprietary European low-temperature blending technology to
create Häagen-Dazs Light, which boasts the taste of full-fat ice
cream.
Long committed to developing products that don’t
force consumers to make the choice between good health and good taste,
Wells’ Dairy continues on that journey with the introduction of Blue
Bunny Premium Light Ice Cream. With half the fat of regular ice cream,
Premium Light is available in eight premium-style flavors, including Bunny
Tracks, Butter Pecan, Chocolate Raspberry Cheesecake, Double Strawberry,
Mint Chip Swirl, Peanut Butter Fudge, Super Fudge Brownie and Vanilla.
“For years, we’ve been striving to deliver
a product that has the same taste, the same amount of inclusions, the same
eating experience as premium ice cream, yet has a health benefit or a diet
benefit to a particular consumer group,” Glover says. “Our
Premium Light product is just fantastic in that it delivers that premium
experience in a better-for-you package.”
Wells has also responded to consumers’ requests
for assistance with portion control. Available in both premium and light
varieties, Blue Bunny Personals offer individual servings for those
containers who otherwise might have a hard time knowing when to say
“when.”
“At 8 ounces, it’s just the right size for
them,” Glover says. “They can feel comfortable eating it and
they are not left with the feeling of guilt they would have if they sat
down and ate a whole pint.”
Caution to the Wind
Traditional full-fat ice
cream still accounts for 90 percent of category sales, according to Katie
Koppenhoefer, spokesperson for the International Dairy Foods
Association’s International Ice Cream Association in Washington, D.C.
Seeking to answer the call for still more indulgent
offerings, Wells’ Dairy introduced Ultimate Rewards dessert cups,
featuring premium ice cream layered with mousses, thick sauces and sweet
candy toppings. Koppenhoefer says Wells has hit upon one of the major
trends impacting the category today — ice cream flavors that offer
“an entire dessert” inside.
Minneapolis-based neighbors Marigold Foods (Kemps) and
General Mills’ Pillsbury teamed up last year for Pillsbury Ice Cream,
a line of dessert-inspired offerings based on consumers’ favorite
Pillsbury baked goods: Fudge Brownie, Peanut Butter Fudge Chunk and Cake
& Ice Cream.
Other companies dishing up dessert-themed ice creams
include Breyers, which sells Sara Lee Strawberry Cheesecake All Natural ice
cream, along with Brownie Mud Pie, Banana Bonanza and others. Following the
success of its Key Lime Pie Ice Cream, Brenham, Texas-based Blue Bell
Creameries recently rolled out two more dessert-flavored offerings:
Strawberry Cheesecake Ice Cream and Lemon Ice Box Pie Ice Cream.
Ben & Jerry’s, meanwhile, set out to give its
consumers a different kind of ice cream indulgence when it rolled out Black
& Tan ice cream just in time for St. Patrick’s Day. Made with a
European non-alcoholic stout extract, the ice cream is swirled with
chocolate and topped with a foamy stout ice cream head. According to Ben
& Jerry’s “brewmaster” John Shafer, it’s just
another example of the company’s creativity in bringing two great
tastes together: “Some may say that beer and ice cream don’t go
together, but we think the combination of deep, dark chocolate and the
creamy stout flavor is the perfect marriage of tastes.” m
Julie Cook Ramirez is a freelance journalist based in
the Chicago area.
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