"Ice cream" treats & Magnum

Ice cream is a big business for Unilever. “With almost USD13 billion in sales across brands such as (Magnum), Cornetto, Breyers, Klondike, and Ben & Jerry’s, ice cream is Unilever’s single biggest category, accounting for about 15% of total revenue, according to researcher Euromonitor. London and Rotterdam-based Unilever is also the world’s biggest maker of ice cream, with about 20% of the USD85 billion market, ahead of Vevey, Switzerland-based Nestle... Magnum’s sales, which have doubled since 2006, top EUR 1 billion (USD1.24 billion) worldwide this year, making ice cream a standout in Unilever’s sluggish food unit. Sold in 50 countries, Magnum is Europe’s top ice cream brand” (Bloomberg.com, 5 Aug 2012).
 
The key markets differ. Parthenon research says that “The USD12 billion US ice cream market is unique because more than half of total sales come from packaged tubs sold in supermarkets and eaten at home… In Europe, more consumption takes place outside the home in single-serve, more-profitable portions… (not surprisingly) major players.. “are increasingly shifting their focus to so-called frozen novelties -- single-serve treats on sticks or in cones… (which) command 21.2% of the US market” How is Magnum positioned in Asian emerging markets? “Magnum costs about three times as much as locally produced ice cream bars, lending it cachet among the emerging middle class, a group projected to increase from 500 million people to more than 3 billion across Asia by 2030” (Bloomberg.com, 5 Aug 2012).

 
In India, the biggest dairy producer is losing ground in the booming frozen treats market. Gujarat Co-Operative Milk Marketing Federation Ltd advertises that real ice cream contains milk, in a campaign seeking to highlight the lack of the ingredient in most of its global rival’s Indian products: cream, or any other dairy fat… “One reason producers have developed recipes without cream is that milk fat is about five times as expensive as fats derived from palm oil and coconut oil… Another advantage is that dairy-based frozen desserts tend to melt faster than those made from plant oils, according to Doug Goff, food scientist at the University of Guelph. That’s important in a country as hot as India…. (its) consumers have decided they’re happy with frozen desserts using cheaper fats such as palm oil. In the five years to 2012, Gujarat Co-operative’s share of the market for frozen treats fell to 31% from 35% while Unilever’s rose to 21% from 17%, according to researcher Euromonitor…. Indians eat an average of 200 milliliters of ice cream each year, versus 14 liters in the US and 2.2 liters in China” (bloomberg.com, 26 Sep 2013). In 2010, world consumption was 2.4 liters/head (data includes both dairy- and non-dairy-fat based products).
 
Khor Reports Blog only supplementary info: Doug Goff, reports “on the use of non-dairy fats in frozen desserts. A blend of 75% of either fractionated palm kernel oil or coconut oil and 25% of an unsaturated oil, like high oleic sunflower oil, was shown to produce optimal levels of fat destabilization, meltdown and flavour, although coconut oil may take longer to crystallize during aging. Blends of 50% milkfat, 37.5% fractionated palm kernel or coconut oil, and 12.5% high oleic sunflower oil were also shown to be very acceptable” (uoguelph.ca, accessed 1 Dec 2013)

Look out for Khor Reports' Oil Palm Newsletter #6 Jan/Feb 2014!