The inside scoop on ice cream innovation

Image source, Getty Images

Ice cream is one of the most satisfying things to eat in the summer. Is it possible to make the scoop on your cone?

Today's frozen desserts are the culmination of months of research and development.

There is an ice cream shop on the outskirts of the Danes city of Aarhus.

A manufacturing plant owned by a food packaging giant is among a group of businesses.

A product development centre is located here.

"It's the beginning of a long journey to have a product launched," says Elsebeth Baungaard.

Next summer or two years from now, we will be testing what we will see on the market.

There are steel vats, freezers, and a machine that turns ice cream into ice cream.

Image source, Tetra Pak

The world's major ice cream brands are usually in the facility for two or three days making and tasting samples.

She says that they see how the texture is and if it works.

There are experts who can help out with the process along the way.

Customers are able to try new recipes without having to make their own. The new products are released in the spring.

During the winter there is a lot of investment in innovation.

More than 25 billion litres of water were eaten by people in the US and China in 2011.

Ice cream sales have gone up in the UK due to the warm weather. Purchases were higher in the four weeks to mid-August compared to a year ago.

Image source, Testra Pak

How is it made?

The production begins with the mix. Milk or water is mixed with dry ingredients. The liquid is cooled and aged.

Mr Vilsgaard is walking me through the process. Functional ingredients include flavours and colors, stabilisers and the emulsifier.

They give a little bit of Viscosity. The mouthfeel is when it's eaten and melted down.

It's put into a continuous freezer. He says that this is the center of any ice cream facility.

The small unit can make 700 litres an hour, but freezers can make up to 4,000.

The mix is quickly cooled and beaten inside a rotating cylinder. The ice cream is soft enough to be pumped into a tub or mold and then stored at a lower temperature.

Ice cream has a complex chemistry that consists of ice crystals, air bubbles and fat droplets held in a water and sugar solution.

Image source, Getty Images

One of the few products that can hold all three states at the same time. Dr Chika Nweke is a professor of ice cream manufacturing at University College London.

They don't mix very well. The fats in the ice cream stick together with the liquids if you add the emulsifier.

Ice cream's stability is dependent on getting the balance right.

Dr Nweke says that recipes have evolved and there is a lot of research going into new ingredients.

There are some more surprising components.

Dr Nweke says it's important to make ice cream scoopable.

Engineers are working on a new factory line that will be able to make a million ice cream cones a day.

Half of the world's ice cream is made using its equipment, according to the firm.

One of the first collaborative robots, known as a cobot, was recently supplied by it.

3D printed moulds can be used to make complex shapes like animals or multiple layers of flavours.

It takes a lot of energy to keep ice cream cold. A group of people are working on a process that will chill certain areas.

Some firms have come up with technology that is out of the box.

Cold snap makes ice cream that is only frozen in an appliance when you want to eat it, so you don't need to store it in a freezer.

I want to know what's coming next in the lab where ice cream is tested.

Image source, Tetra Pak

I'm sorry, but it's simply Shrinking." We are downsizing the volume. There are cones, sticks, and bites. The quality will be better.

That's a global trend that Kate Vlietstra, a food and drink analyst from Mintel, agrees with.

She says people go for cheap treats. Almost half of UK consumers think it has been easier to justify eating food or drink since Covid-19.

Ms Vlietstra believes that the cost-of-living crisis will have an impact. Ice cream is inexpensive and can offer a great experience at home.

She says that younger and older consumers alike buy ice cream, but that younger consumers are more interested in more original flavours.

Image source, Getty Images

Plant-based ice cream and sorbets are growing in popularity. It is possible that new innovations will find their way into our freezers.

There is a machine behind Ms Baungaard that can make ice cream with cookie dough or brownies.

She says that is new. Only us can do it. It's done in cups.

There are new techniques for decorating stick products. You have to wonder if this line of work is dangerous for dessert lovers.

Ms Baungaard says it is temptation. You get used to it as well.