几个世纪以来，冰淇淋是所有年龄段的人都喜欢的美食。如今，我们吃的冰淇淋比以往任何时候都多，这是为什么呢？需求如何影响冰淇淋的生产和消费？

Is there anything nicer than a cooling ice cream on a hot summer's day? This traditional treat is centuries old, but our tastes and consumer habits are evolving. How is the ice cream production process changing, and who is driving this change?

Making ice cream is a time-consuming process. While the recipe is simple – milk, sugar and fat, plus flavours and colours – ice cream has a complex chemistry. Getting the balance right between ice, fat and air is important if the ice cream is to have the right texture. To achieve this, the ingredients need to be mixed and heated, then cooled and frozen – a process that takes time and uses a lot of energy. Designers and engineers are working to improve the production process with new specialised equipment to make it increasingly automated. For now, however, even with the help of robots and 3D printers, it can take up to two years from testing a new frozen dessert product to it being available to consumers. 

And demand is only going up. According to the food packaging company Tetra Pak, more than 25 billion litres of ice cream were eaten worldwide in 2021. While the US and China are the biggest consumers, data from NielsenIQ shows that people in the UK bought 28% more ice cream during the UK's record-breaking summer compared to a year earlier. Clearly, rising temperatures can explain why some people are buying more ice cream, but it's not the only explanation. The pandemic has seen people reaching for pleasures they can enjoy at home, which include eating indulgent foods. And worries about the cost-of-living crisis could have a similar effect, as even a premium ice cream is an affordable treat.

So, what new things can we expect on a stick or in a cone? Consumers of all ages buy ice cream, but it is millennial consumers who are driving interest in more original flavours, including spices. Dairy still dominates, but plant-based ice cream, sorbets and low-calorie choices are a growing part of the frozen dessert market. But, according to Elsebeth Baungaard, portfolio manager at Tetra Pak, the next global trend will be less about innovation and more about portion size. "I'm sorry to say it's simply shrinking", she says. "But the quality will be higher."