Vogue’s online news site has declared ice pops as “the most delicious and healthy food trend for the summer of 2017”, according to Mintel.
“The title refers to a new recipe book filled with recipes for healthy, yet tasty ice pops which contain spices and herbs. Vogue’s bold declaration suggests a wider demand among consumers for spices to have a bigger role in frozen treat innovation. Currently, they are largely appearing in better-for-you recipes from fairly niche brands,” Alex Becket from Mintel says.
Certainly, there seems to be consumer interest in spicy frozen treats. 24% of French ice cream eaters are interested in seeing spices (e.g. ginger, cinnamon and nutmeg) added to recipes, marking a sizeable level of interest. Over-55s are even more likely to want to see such innovation, presenting a means by which manufacturers can potentially increase usage among this older – and traditionally lower usage – group.
In addition to delivering exotic flavors, spices can also be used in low/no/reduced sugar ice cream recipes. UK ice cream makers have been tasked by government health agency Public Health England to reduce sugar levels by 20% by 2020. This is incredibly challenging, as sugar is integral to the texture of ice cream, as well as its flavor.
But as an alternative to portion controlling, manufacturers could potentially cut sugar content in ice cream and not surrender the flavor appeal by using spice to mask the less sweet flavors. As the war on sugar rumbles on, various food and drink websites and forums are championing the use of spices over sugar. For example, cinnamon and ginger can be added to coffee instead of sugar to deliver a warm, sweet flavor without the calorie hit. This could be replicated in frozen treats, too.
Using spice in this way seems to be already happening in the drinks category, where herb and spice flavors have risen in profile among new low sugar launches over the past few years, mainly because of the exotic flavors and perceived links with cleansing and detoxing.
