Are savoury flavours the next big thing in ice cream?

Olive oil, sea salt and even black pepper could become popular ingredients in ice cream.

Olive oil and ice cream emerged as a flavour sold by retailers in 2015, gaining ground in foodservice and online bloggers for a few years. Adding olive oil in the recipe is said to provide texture benefits to ice cream, as it adds a additional creamy – yet not oily – texture, while the flavour is said to add subtle grassy and nutty notes. While you’re more likely to find olive oil flavoured ice creams in Italian restaurants and gelaterias, it has become a highlight dessert at Otto’s Pizzeria in New York City and is also found in other restaurants across the US. Advocates of the combination even point to how olive oil is rich in naturally occurring antioxidants and fat-soluble vitamins such as vitamin E.

Olive oil has been little seen in the retail ice cream market, but over the past 12 months, two artisan producers have introduced olive oil ice creams to supermarkets. In summer 2015, Texas-based Lick introduced Dark Chocolate, Olive Oil & Sea Salt Ice Creams into stores around Texas. The recipe uses locally sourced ingredients, such as extra virgin olive oil from the Texas Olive Ranch and dairy and dark chocolate from Austin–based Great Bean.

Meanwhile in Australia, another olive oil ice cream is available in supermarkets courtesy of local supplier Two Fat Cows. Similar to Lick’s recipe, Two Fat Cows is made with extra virgin olive oil which is sourced locally, as well as dairy from the company’s own herd of Friesian cattle.

Ice cream containing sea salt has tripled between 2013 and 2015.

The idea of using olive oil to add a difference follows in the footsteps of sea salt’s rise in popularity in gelato and ice cream. Between July 2013 and July 2015, the number of global ice cream launches featuring sea salt as a flavour or ingredient tripled, largely reflecting the rise of sea salt and caramel flavours.

Yet other savoury seasonings can work well in ice cream, such as ground black pepper, offsetting the sweet flavour. Ice cream products with black pepper among the ingredients are all but absent. But among the small parlours, black pepper’s profile is growing. After all, compared with the stringent demands of retail, the out-of-home ice cream channel can afford to be more experimental, and launch more unconventional flavours. For example, Morgenstern’s Finest Ice Cream Parlor in New York City currently sells a Szechuan Peppercorn Chocolate flavour, as well as a Salt & Pepper Pinenut option.

According to Mintel’s Ice Cream and Desserts UK 2015 report, ice creams featuring a measured amount of ground black pepper as a flavour component could be well received by consumers in a number of global markets. For example, 48% of British adults are interested in trying ice cream made with ethnic ingredients, and 39% are interested in hot flavoured ice cream.

Half of Chinese ice cream users who have not tried sweet and savoury mixed ice cream are keen to do so.

Using savoury spices is also seen as a means for ice cream brands in Asia to deliver the exciting flavours more associated with the out-of-home channel. In Northern India for example, guava is sold by street vendors who slit the fruit and insert black rock salt and chaat masala – a combination of savoury spices and Himalayan pink salt. This has evolved from guava fruit to guava ice cream being topped with the spicy mixture. Adding ground black pepper and other spices to retail ice cream in India could been seen to help Western brands appeal to local tastes.

In China, over half of ice cream users have not tried sweet and savoury mixed ice cream, but would be keen to do so, according to Mintel’s research. The Chinese are continuously seeking ice cream products that offer greater variety in texture, flavours and sensations, thanks to rising incomes and an appreciation of gourmet recipes and unique flavours.

So when you’re next thinking about flavours to offer to stand out from the competition, sprinkle a few crystals of sea salt or ground black pepper on top of a chocolate or caramel mix and get some out for testing with the foodies.

Brexit: The Dairy Industry Impact

Amid the Brexit turmoil since the UK’s unforeseen exit from the European Union on 24th June, small and large business owners have unresolved questions about the impact on their firm’s sustainability, productivity and trade.

An EU exit means restricted access to the Single Market unless the UK, like other countries outside the EU, agrees to accept the free movement of people – an unlikely negotiation since immigration was a core argument of the Leave campaign. That said, certain EU trade regulations seen as burdening British businesses have been lifted, and retained membership of the European Economic Area but not the EU, provides access to the internal market and offers tax reductions of around £150 per person.

The dairy industry is central to the EU debate, with 40% of the EU’s budget spent on agriculture and Europe accounting for 73% of Britain’s agricultural exports. The chief executive of Dairy UK, Dr Judith Bryans, has reaffirmed that the UK’s dairy industry is “adaptable, resilient and determined, with the skills and innovation to rise to the many challenges we encounter”. Dairy UK did not take a side in the EU debate; according to Bryans, this is because trade association and dairy firms will “continue to operate in a global dairy market place and demonstrate [their] unwavering commitment to give the public nothing but the best of UK dairy.”

Arla Foods, a Denmark-based company operating in the UK, has been disappointed by the Brexit outcome, but is focused on minimizing negative impact on business by preserving trade between the UK and Europe.

Meurig Raymond, president of NFU, has stated that Brexit will “inevitably lead to a period of uncertainty in a number of areas that are of vital importance to Britain’s farmers.” According to the NFU, the primary destinations of UK food, beverage and animal feed exports were Ireland (£3.4bn), France (£2.1bn) and the USA (£1.9bn), leaving uncertainty over the post-Brexit influence on dairy exports.

The Leave campaign has been quick to assert, however, that the export market is not going to vanish: the demand for Welsh lamb will still exist in France, and Ireland will continue to sell beef to the UK. Whether it is enough to match the £11bn a year generated through agrifood exports to Europe is still uncertain for farmers and individuals in the dairy industry.

Indian yoghurt market forecast to show exponential growth

International dairy companies can tap in to a growing demand for yogurt in India, according to a recently-published report by TechSci Research.

The yogurt market in India grew at a CAGR of 28.9% between 2011 and 2015 says the report and is projected to grow at an even faster pace over next five years and touch $1bn by 2021.

Easy availability of products, and rising emphasis on low calorie and low fat content of food products is driving yogurt consumption in India. Yogurts are gradually eating away the share of traditional dairy products in urban and semi urban cities, due to increasing health awareness, better quality of packaged yogurt and increasing yogurt flavors.

Yoghurt demand
With growing yogurt demand and only a handful of organized players offering yogurt, the prices of these products are anticipated to grow through 2021, the report says.

Currently, around 80% of India’s dairy production comes from small enterprises, with an average herd size of only one or two cows. The larger, organized, Indian companies and cooperatives have been attempting to combine small localized production to ‘demand centers’ across the country.

Shift to organised dairy companies
Laltu Sinha, research manager with TechSci Research, told DairyReporter that the industry is changing.

The Indian dairy products market is expected to witness a shift from unorganized to organized sector,” Sinha said.

The rise in the organized sector in India dairy products market can be attributed to rising demand for high quality packaged products, especially in urban areas. However, in rural areas, acceptance of packaged dairy products is slowly gaining momentum.

However, the dairy market is highly fragmented with the top ten players occupying less than 60% of the market share.

See the full story here

Looking to the future for flavours in dairy

Feel the flavour
Flavours of the future won’t just be tasted but will be felt. The food market is really pushing the boundaries with development of new flavours and their delivery for example, Prosecco crisps with a prosecco flavour but also a fizzing in mouth experience.
But also expect to see more flavours that give kokumi, or ‘mouthfullness’.

‘Umami’ and mouthfeel or fullness has become a lot understood over recent years, as a result we are seeing more seaweed being used. However, it also delivers rich salty notes and is a healthy ingredient. Kokumi is only just starting to be understood and we will see more of this in the future.

Far-flung and exotic flavours

Opportunities to travel to increasingly far-flung and exotic destinations is still fuelling consumer desire to try new and unusual tastes.
There are lots of exciting trends inspired by tastes from all over the world and finding their way into restaurants and the wider food industry in Europe.
Food trend inspiration will continue to be found in South America thanks to this summer’s Olympic Games.

But we also have our eyes on Middle Eastern and African cuisines. Their popularity is being driven particularly by celebrity chefs (on the television and in the press) and growing numbers of restaurants specialising in flavours from these regions. Moroccan and Persian-inspired cuisines are also receiving a lot of attention, with a particular focus on Lebanese and Turkish flavours.

Adventurous Millennials

Young Millennials continue to be the key consumer group to target for testing out new flavours and are a highly attractive target group for many food and beverage manufacturers as they are open to try new flavours, be it for curiosity or for positioning themselves ‘in the know’ of new trends.

Products that work well in this group will allow for flavour experimentation and ‘excitement in the mouth,’ such as flavours that change during chewing or when combined with each other, she added.

Adult-only flavours will emerge

Dairy is now opening its options more to being infused with alcohol, addressing the consumers need for more indulgent, premium offerings especially in yoghurts, cream sauces and ice cream.

We can expect to see a lot of ‘adult only’ flavours – less sweet and with alcohol – being launched, but there is no one category which is used to specifically test out new flavour innovations. One flavour can act very differently in different ‘end uses’. For instance you can’t necessarily use the same vanilla in an indulgent ice cream and in a vodka and expect them to taste the same. So producers are actively developing solutions to meet needs across various consumer desires, such as health, indulgence, energy or purity, across many different product forms.

Machinery World customers clean-up at the National Ice Cream awards

The industry’s leading ice cream competition, the National Ice Cream Awards took place at the beginning of March this year with a multitude of wins for Machinery World customers.

Notable amongst the recognition given for the excellence in ice cream production was Machinery World customer, Mario’s Ice Cream, for the Open Flavour Award which secured them the prestigious Silver Challenge Cup.

Mario’s Ice Cream also won the Dairy Ice Cream Continuous Silver medal.

Manfredi’s Ices won the Dairy Ice Cream Continuous Bronze medal using a ROKK RFE600 freezer and James Rizza & Sons won the Dairy Ice Cream Continuous Special Diploma also using a ROKK RFE600 freezer.

Manfredi’s Ices also picked up an Ice Cream Continuous Special Diploma using the same ROKK RFE600 freezer and Maud’s Ice Creams took a Silver Medal for the Ice Cream Open – Toffee category using a ROKK RFE1200 freezer.

Mario’s Ice Cream scored a third win in the Ice Cream Open – Toffee category with a Special Diploma and Maud’s Ice Creams and Morelli’s Ice Cream took a Bronze and Silver medal respectively for the Ice Cream Open – Cookies category using their ROKK RFE1200 freezers.

Morelli’s Ice Cream and Ryeburn of Helmsley also scored well in the Ice Cream Open category with Silver Medals using their ROKK RIF1500 fruit feeders.

ROKK customer James Rizza & Sons gained a Special Diploma in the Ice Cream Open – Rasp Pavlova category.

Overall, a fantastic accolade for all Machinery World customers, we wish you all the best for the 2017 awards!

Did the snow cone start the ice cream revolution?

Ice cream’s origins are known to reach back as far as the second century B.C., although no specific date of origin nor inventor has been undisputably credited with its discovery.

We know that Alexander the Great enjoyed snow and ice flavoured with honey and nectar. Biblical references also show that King Solomon was fond of iced drinks during harvesting. During the Roman Empire, Nero Claudius Caesar (A.D. 54-86) frequently sent runners into the mountains for snow, which was then flavored with fruits and juices.

Over a thousand years later, Marco Polo returned to Italy from the Far East with a recipe that closely resembled what is now called sherbet. Historians estimate that this recipe evolved into ice cream sometime in the 16th century. England seems to have discovered ice cream at the same time, or perhaps even earlier than the Italians. “Cream Ice,” as it was called, appeared regularly at the table of Charles I during the 17th century. France was introduced to similar frozen desserts in 1553 by the Italian Catherine de Medici when she became the wife of Henry II of France. It wasn’t until 1660 that ice cream was made available to the general public. The Sicilian Procopio introduced a recipe blending milk, cream, butter and eggs at Café Procope, the first café in Paris.

Is Unilever’s calorie controlled decision right?

Unilever has confirmed that from spring 2016, its adult single-serve ice cream range will contain 250 calories or less in the UK.

That means no change for some of its products, but a size reduction for others.

A Unilever ice cream spokesperson is quoted as saying “that it has deliberately only changed the size of products that were above 250 calories, and not made any changes to some of the bestselling lines, nor to the recipes”.

“For example, none of the Cornetto products will be changing size as they are already 250 calories or fewer. And none of the standard Ben & Jerry’s 500ml tubs will be changing size”.

Some Magnums and individual tubs of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream will reduce in size to accommodate the calorie cap, with differing price drops, while other products will be removed from the market altogether.

“We set our retail prices based on a number of factors including commodity prices, but we ensure that they remain accessible to all by offering a broad range of products of various sizes and styles so that we can always cater to our consumers’ needs.”

Noel Clarke, brand building director for ice cream, Unilever UK & Ireland, said: “We have introduced this 250 calorie cap to help make it easier for our consumers to make informed and healthier choices when enjoying their favourite ice creams as part of a balanced lifestyle.

“It was important there be no compromise to taste or quality and that’s exactly what we’ve delivered. Our products will still taste as good as ever, but through a process of development and resizing we will ensure our entire single-serve ice cream portfolio will contain 250 calories or fewer.”

The move follows the introduction of products that are 110 calories or fewer across the children’s ice cream range.

The company says that through its Unilever Sustainable Living Plan, it is helping millions take action to improve their health and well-being.

Study discovers cancer beating preservative in dairy products

The University of Michigan has just published results of a ground-breaking study which has found that nisin, a food preservative growing naturally on dairy products, may help kill cancer cells as well as antibiotic-resistant bacteria.

The study reports that Nisin contains “unusual amino acids” due to post-translational modifications.

“Increasing evidence indicates that nisin can influence the growth of tumors and exhibit selective cytotoxicity towards cancer cells,” the report states. “Collectively, the application of nisin has advanced beyond its role as a food biopreservative. Thus, this review will describe and compare studies on nisin and provide insight into its future biomedical applications.”

The results

Dr. Yvonne Kapila, one of the study’s authors and professor at the University of Michigan School of Dentistry, told University of Michigan’s news website that rats fed a “nisin milkshake” saw a 70% to 80% reduction in head and neck tumor cells after a nine-week study. These rats also ended up surviving longer.

Other things nisin can help with, according to the study, include:

Antibiotic-resistant skin and soft tissue infections such as Methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus (MRSA) and vancomycin resistant enterococci
Oral health problems, such as periodontal diseases
Improving the immune system. For example, returning B- and T-lymphocytes levels to normal

However, all of these results were found in rodents only, so further studies will be needed to see how truly effective nisin is on treatment of these diseases or ailments.

Generally regarded as safe

The study said nisin is GRAS, or generally regarded as safe, and FDA approved as a peptide with recognition for clinical use.

“Over the past few decades, nisin has been used widely as a food biopreservative,” the study’s authors wrote in the abstract. “Since then, many natural and genetically modified variants of nisin have been identified and studied for their unique antimicrobial properties”.

It has been accepted as useful in biomedical fields. Researchers said nisin may have anti-biofilm properties that can work with conventional theory drugs and may activate the adaptive immune response and have an immunomodulatory role.

Although findings of this study are promising, the authors said there will need to be further validation of the biomedical uses of nisin via in vivo studies to evaluate it.

Why a tiny gap makes a big difference for homogenization

What happens to a drop of milk as it passes through a homogenizer? How exactly does the drop break up, and where precisely does the break-up happen?

Groundbreaking research by Fredrik Innings, who is senior expert at Tetra Pak and associate professor of food engineering at Lund University, drew some interesting conclusions about this fundamental process that lies at the heart of the homogenizer.

What follows here is the abstract of that study. To read the study in full, fill in the form at the Tetra Pak website here.

Drop Break-up in High-Pressure Homogenizers

The overall aim of this project was to investigate the drop break-up process in milk homogenizers. This was done by measurements and calculations of the flow fields in the gap region and by visualization of drops being broken up.

To make visualization and measurements possible, two scale models of a homogenizer gap were developed. The full-scale model was a direct copy of the gap in a production-scale homogenizer, but with optical access. Normal operational homogenization pressures could be tested, and drops down to 5µm in diameter could be visualized.

The second model was scaled-up about 100 times ensuring that the relevant dimensionless groups were kept constant, so that the same factors governed the drop break-up process. The scaled-up model was made of transparent plastic and was used for both velocity field measurements and drop visualization.

From these measurements it was concluded that the drops did not break up in the entrance of the gap. Larger drops were elongated to some extent and smaller ones remained spherical. Not much happens in the gap itself. The velocity profile is very flat throughout the gap in a production-scale homogeniser.

In a pilot-scale homogeniser the boundary layers have time to grow and the velocity profile is almost developed at the gap exit. The growing shear layers seem to have a limited effect on the drops. During passage through the gap small drops will have time to relax back to their spherical shape, while large ones will leave the gap with almost the same aspect ratio as when they entered it.

This study shows that drop break-up takes place in the turbulent jet at the gap outlet. The flow velocity measurements show a very unsteady jet breaking down faster than a jet in a free liquid. Depending on the geometry of the chamber at the gap outlet, the jet can attach to either of the 45-degree walls and become a wall jet.

The turbulence in the jet is very high, with turbulence intensities of 50-100%. Indications were found that flow structures of the size of, or slightly smaller than, the gap height, have very high intensities. Drop deformation experiments and theoretical analyses show that the eddies breaking up the drops range in size from much larger than, to just smaller than, the drop. The larger eddies deform the drop viscously by the velocity gradient created by the eddy. The smaller eddies deform the drop by fluid inertia.

The critical phase of the drop break-up process is the initial deformation. If the drop is deformed to an aspect ratio of 3-5, the drop is then very quickly elongated into one or more filaments which may be bent, coiled and further deformed before they break up into many small droplets.

Bumper European ice-cream season

Food giant Unilever has reported sharply increased third-quarter revenues, as sales of ice cream jumped.

The manufacturer behind major ice cream brands like Wall’s and Ben & Jerry’s reported a 9.4% increase in Q3 turnover, which hit €13.4 billion, while figures for the first nine months of 2015 showed 11.1% rise in turnover, reaching €40.4 bn.

A 4.7% growth in nine-month sales for Unilever’s refreshment business unit was driven in particular by a strong Q3, which saw sales spike by 8.5% thanks to the strong performance of ice cream.

See full article here

Author: Holly Harvey

Are savoury flavours the next big thing in ice cream?

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Brexit: The Dairy Industry Impact

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Indian yoghurt market forecast to show exponential growth

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Looking to the future for flavours in dairy

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Machinery World customers clean-up at the National Ice Cream awards

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Did the snow cone start the ice cream revolution?

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Is Unilever’s calorie controlled decision right?

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Study discovers cancer beating preservative in dairy products

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Why a tiny gap makes a big difference for homogenization

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Bumper European ice-cream season

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