Magnum’s R&D centre serves as the engine room for the world’s biggest publicly listed ice-cream maker, where experts work tirelessly to improve existing recipes and develop entirely new ones. Located near Bedford in the UK, this facility is where the company’s researchers dream up new flavour profiles and refine the complex production processes required to scale them for a global audience.
What really catches my eye is a pale yellow glow in the corner of the room. The light emanates from a glow-in-the-dark ice lolly, a product launched in the clubbing capital of Ibiza. It is specifically targeted toward clubbers and festival-goers, utilizing vitamin B2, which is naturally luminescent and glows under UV club lights to create a unique sensory experience.
While a luminescent product may seem a bit of a gimmick, ice cream is a serious business and innovation is crucial to staying ahead of the game. The company faces tough competition from other giants including Häagen-Dazs owner, Froneri, and Baskin-Robbins, the world’s largest chain of ice cream specialty shops, not to mention smaller artisan ice cream makers that are popping up all the time.
They’re all dealing with a notoriously unpredictable market and with fluctuating commodity and energy prices. No one can afford to stand still. Georgia Rose, a principal analyst at global market research company Kantar Retail IQ, explains the pressure: “We’ve had five years of price volatility impacted by the war in Ukraine, Covid, and the cost of living crisis. We’ve now got the Strait of Hormuz. We’ve just been in this constant state of instability when it comes to pricing.”
These price fluctuations affect multiple areas of the ice-cream making process. Manufacturers have been hit by higher costs for dairy, cream, eggs, and essential ingredients like vanilla, chocolate, and sugar. Rising costs are something The Magnum Ice Cream Company is battling daily. Spun off from parent firm Unilever last year, the company owns iconic brands including Cornetto, Twister, and Solero.
As the largest stock market-listed ice cream company in the world, with a market capitalisation of around £8bn, it has the necessary funds to innovate. Zbigniew Lewicki, Magnum’s chief research, design & innovation officer, says innovations like these aren’t just a nice-to-have; they are crucial to the business’ bottom line.
One area under constant development is refrigeration. Globally, Magnum owns three million fridges, which are designed and built by a third party. Some are now fitted with cameras that use AI to identify each product. The system is trained in depth-recognition, allowing it to estimate how many units of a particular ice cream have been sold and when stock needs replenishing.
Helping with that data collection is a robot called Eric, who does something that even the most dedicated ice cream consumer could not—collecting data on ice cream sales 24 hours a day. Meanwhile, the fridges themselves have been made significantly more energy efficient to combat rising utility costs.
“If you look at the freezers we had in 2010, the ones we have now are 40% more efficient,” Lewicki notes. “Will we ever be able to absorb every shock? I can’t say, but it’s definitely one way of making the business long-term resilient.”
When it comes to innovation, a lot of attention is turning to Asia. Lewicki believes the inspiration and trends come from the East. “There’s an incredible intensity of innovation in places like Japan, Korea and China and the markets are growing and expanding in a phenomenal way.”
One product inspired by these trips is Volcanics, which has launched in the UK and Europe. It comprises a chocolate shell with biscuit pieces, chocolate and vanilla ice cream layers, and a caramel lava centre which Lewicki describes as “four dimensional.” He adds that it represents a new centre of gravity, reflecting a shift in Chinese consumer lifestyles.
Innovation in ice cream is not just limited to flavour, according to Honorata Jarocka, associate director at market intelligence company Mintel. She points to the rise of functional benefits. “It’s not only about building your muscles, it’s more about satiety because with the GLP1 user movement, people are drawn to products that are more filling.”
While high-protein products like David bars—which contain 20g of protein and cost roughly double the price of standard bars—are expensive, they have been a hit. Jarocka explains that consumers are choosing high quality, smaller portions and are willing to pay a premium for extra benefits because they are spending less on grocery items overall, viewing these treats as an affordable luxury.
David bars made by US company David Protein – and with a whopping 20g of protein – come in at $39.99 (£30) for a 12-pack, more than double the price of Magnum’s Yasso frozen yoghurt bars.
This equates to less empty space and more targeted supplies.
Fridge technology isn’t something the average consumer will notice, but new products on the shelf are a different story.
Shanghai-based, Neil Yan is a researcher of market trends for consumer and sensory specialists, MMR.
And Yan says this affects the whole market: “[We are in] an era where everyone is experimenting with the flavours and the format, and blending it with what China, or the border term, Asian nationality, represents.”
And within the context of flavour experimentation, pretty much anything goes.
“We have ham, pickled garlic, tahini, and stinky tofu and liquor.
Just below my office is a shop whose speciality is vodka, foie gras and apple in one scoop,” says Yan.
“The reason why people are so excited and so experimental is basically the ability to think beyond just the flavours that have been offered by the Western market for the past two or three decades.”
She says that products with added health angles are becoming increasingly popular.
Back in Bedford, Magnum researchers are tinkering with their core product, with a little robotic help.
The goal is to find the perfect viscosity of chocolate on Magnum bars, for the perfect crunch.
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