Healthier ice cream is getting hot
High-protein, low-calorie treats increasingly pass the taste test
Summer is the height of ice-cream season, but now lovers of frozen desserts are being told they can lick away with less guilt.
A bevy of new brands has created a segment that didn’t really exist until earlier this decade, ice creams that not only come billed as lower-calorie, but high-protein as well.
High- or added-protein claims were featured on 10 percent of all ice-cream launches in the 12 months ending in June – up from 2 percent during the same period the previous year, according to global market research firm Mintel.
Starting with an independent brand called Halo Top that came along in 2012, the new high-protein desserts are considered a clear advance, Mintel analyst Alex Beckett said.
They moved in on the unsatisfying, sometimes chalkytasting light, low-calorie, low-fat ice creams of the past.
For dieters, the calorie-count differences were startling. A pint of Halo Top vanilla bean has 280 calories and 20 grams of protein, while Häagen-Dazs vanilla bean has 1,080 calories and 16 grams of protein.
“What Halo Top did was prove there’s a place for pleasure, indulgence and fun in better-for-you ice cream,” Beckett said. “They’ve restored the equilibrium.”
One pint of Halo Top vanilla bean has
280 CALORIES AND 20 GRAMS OF PROTEIN
Häagen-Dazs vanilla bean has
1,080 CALORIES AND 16 GRAMS OF PROTEIN
After the reception to Halo Top caught some food giants by surprise, Unilever launched Breyers Delights and then Nestlé introduced a high-protein version of Skinny Cow – both in 2017.
The same year saw Kroger, the big grocery chain, debut a line of lower-calorie high-protein ice creams under its house brand Simple Truth. This summer brought Target’s Archer Farms and Aldi’s Sundae Shoppe with their own. Along the way, other small-scale players jumped in, including Arctic Zero, Enlightened and Thrive.
To make the new low-cal, high-protein concoctions, the process involves removing fat and most of the sugar from conventional ice cream. Stevia or another sweetener is added to return that sugary taste. Changing the ratio is what ramps up the protein content.
“I did think it would be a success, but I didn’t think, if I were being honest, it would be up there with the biggest guys,” Halo Top founder and CEO Justin Woolverton said. “You have companies that have higher GDPs than some countries” rushing to make competing products.
In 2017, Halo Top said it did close to
$351 million in sales, while this year, through July 8, its sales were more than
$193 million.
While heavy on the protein, this constantly-expanding genre of ice cream also comes with a heftier price tag. For frozen-treats companies, that means a chance to buoy a food category that has seen its reputation tarnished due to a nationwide increased dedication to health and nutrition.
“Volume has struggled in the U.S. be- cause people cut back how much they eat. Gelato and the new generation of better-for-you high-protein ice cream have been stealing market share and generally driving value growth in the overall market,” Beckett said. “They’re eating less, but when they do, they want it to be the good stuff or stuff that’s better for them.”
Total ice cream sales in the U.S. for the year ending in June were $6.78 billion, versus $6.23 billion three years earlier, according to consumer data company Nielsen.
Lower-calorie, high-protein ice cream’s trajectory is expected to continue because 33 percent of U.S. frozen-treat buyers want to see more functional benefits, according to Beckett. Other possibilities could include adding vitamins, energy-boosting properties or fiber.
“These ice creams really suit the 21st century mindset that looks at food and drinks and asks, ‘ What else can you do for me? I want benefits other than taste,’ “Beckett said. “That’s a classic millennial demand: We want more.”
Samantha Thierry, 27, of Columbia, Missouri, is such a big fan of lower-calorie, high-protein ice cream that she’ll eat one-third to one-half straight out of a container in one sitting, while her boyfriend, Zach Zimmerman, 28, will down the whole thing.
“I’ve tried a lot of the high-protein ice creams, because I love ice cream,” said Thierry, a dietitian who eats it at least twice a week.
Her only complaint is the price, so she stocks her freezer when she sees it on sale.
“We have eaten it all times of the day,” Thierry said. “Sometimes, we get up (in the morning) and decide that’s what we want to have.”