Revealed: The hottest ice cream launches of 2015

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Unilever has scored a full house in terms of product development, with the top three ice cream launches of the past year all belonging to the multinational. Magnum Pink & Black, Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Core and Magnum Caramel racked up £38.4m between them in their first year in the freezers. Here’s how…

Magnum Pink & Black
Sales: £26.4m

Unilever’s ice cream NPD programme is like a conveyer belt: as new products roll onto the market, others are phased out. These raspberry and espresso variants hit the market last April, backed by a £13m media campaign, as the Marc de Champagne lolly launched in 2014 to mark Magnum’s 25th anniversary and the super-premium Infinity range unveiled in 2012 began to disappear from freezers. Crucially, this stream of innovation is fuelling overall growth for ice cream’s biggest gun. Magnum’s sales are up 5.8% to £163.8m on volumes up 7.6% [IRI 52 w/e 2 January 2016].

Ben & Jerry’s Cookie Core
Sales: £9.1m

Crumbs! Cookie Core has delivered the largest scoop of Ben & Jerry’s £13.5m growth in the past year following its launch in February, 2015. “Ben & Jerry’s is now the fastest growing dessert brand in the UK,” claims brand manager Alessandra Salvo, crediting a TV, video on demand, social media and sampling campaign for the launch’s success.

Magnum Caramel
Sales: £2.9m

Caramel ice cream is hot right now, with all of the market’s major players adding it to their ranges. This new edition to Magnum’s core range entered freezers last March, and has since racked up a solid £2.9m at the tills. “Our core range continues to grow in popularity, up by 14% in value sales in the last 12 months,” said brand manager Nicola Rolfe at the time of the launch.