I'm at the research and development centre of the world's biggest publicly listed ice-cream maker, Magnum.
asserted
I → list → maker
Near Bedford in the UK, it's where the company's researchers dream up new recipes and develop their production processes.
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researchers → dream → processes
What really catches my eye is a pale yellow glow in the corner of the room.
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catches → catch → room
The light emanates from a glow-in-the-dark ice lolly.
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light → emanate → lolly
Launched in the clubbing capital of Ibiza, it's targeted toward clubbers and festival-goers, and one of its ingredients, vitamin B2, is naturally luminescent and glows under UV club lights.
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one → launch → lights
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.
uncertain
innovation → seem → game
There's 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.
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that → be → shops
They're all dealing with a notoriously unpredictable market and with fluctuating commodity and energy prices.
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They → deal → prices
No one can afford to stand still.
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one → afford → ?
"We've had five years of price volatility impacted by war in Ukraine, Covid, the cost of living crisis.
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We → have → living
We've now got the Strait of Hormuz.
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We → get → Hormuz
We've just been in this constant state of instability when it comes to pricing," says Georgia Rose, principal analyst at global market research company, Kantar Retail IQ.
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Rose → come → company
And those price fluctuations affect multiple areas of the ice-cream making process.
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fluctuations → affect → process
"Manufacturers have been hit by higher prices for dairy, cream, eggs; the ingredients that make ice-cream bases.
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that → hit → bases
And then you've got the flavours; vanilla, chocolate, sugar, fruit.
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you → get → flavours
And something that often gets forgotten is the cold-chain energy costs and storage," she says.
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she → forget → ?
Rising costs are something The Magnum Ice Cream Company is battling with.
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Company → rise → ?
It was spun off from parent firm Unilever last year and owns brands including Cornetto, Twister, Solero and of course, Magnum.
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It → spin → course
As the largest stock market-listed ice cream company in the world, with a market capitalisation of around £8bn, it has the funds to innovate.
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it → list → funds
One area under constant development is refrigeration - globally Magnum owns three million fridges, (designed and built by a third party), and some are fitted with cameras taking images to be uploaded to data centres.
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some → own → centres
From the pictures, AI identifies each product and it's also trained in depth-recognition, which means it can estimate how many units of a particular ice cream have been sold and when a fridge needs to be restocked.
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fridge → identify → cream
This equates to less empty space and more targeted supplies.
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This → equate → space
Meanwhile, the fridges themselves have been made more energy efficient.
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fridges → make → ?
Zbigniew Lewicki, Magnum's chief research, design & innovation officer says innovations like this aren't just a nice-to-have, they're crucial to the business' bottom line.
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they → say → line
"If you look at the freezers we had in 2010, the ones we have now are 40% more efficient.
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we → look → 2010
Will we ever be able to absorb every shock?
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we → absorb → shock
I can't say, but it's definitely one way of making the business long-term resilient."
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business → say → ?
Fridge technology isn't something the average consumer will notice, but new products on the shelf are a different story.
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products → notice → shelf
When it comes to innovation, a lot of attention is turning to Asia according to Lewicki.
uncertain
lot → come → Lewicki
"The inspiration and trends come from the East.
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inspiration → come → 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."
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markets → be → way
One of the products inspired by Lewicki's trips is Volcanics which has launched in the UK and Europe.
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which → inspire → UK
It comprises a chocolate shell with biscuit pieces, chocolate and vanilla ice cream layers, and a caramel lava centre which he describes as "four dimensional".
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he → comprise → which
Shanghai-based, Neil Yan is a researcher of market trends for consumer and sensory specialists, MMR.
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Yan → base → specialists
She agrees that Asia is now the centre of ice-cream innovation, and says there are some deeper cultural reasons for this,
"In China, ice cream is no longer a niche story.
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cream → agree → China
It's a new centre of gravity, representing a part of Chinese people's lifestyle."
asserted
It → represent → lifestyle
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.
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China → say → what
And within the context of flavour experimentation, pretty much anything goes.
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anything → go → experimentation
We have ham, pickled garlic, tahini, and stinky tofu and liquor.
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We → have → ham
Just below my office is a shop whose speciality is vodka, foie gras and apple in one scoop," says Yan.
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Yan → say → scoop
…and 11 more, not listed.
The Aporia
