Coming soon to a freezer aisle near you — balsamic vinegar ice cream. Plus, hot sauce ice cream. And maybe even tomato.
“You’re seeing the same kinds of trends in ice cream that you’re seeing in other foods,” says Peggy Armstrong, spokeswoman for the International Dairy Foods Association. “People are willing to experiment.”
Just a generation ago, Americans mostly bought their ice cream at the supermarket in recognizable flavours that occasionally sported chocolate chips or a swirl of some kind. Today, regular old ice cream has been joined by boutique items such as gelato, sorbet and water ice, as well as an army of flavours that seem more at home in an Italian restaurant — opal basil lemon sorbet, anyone? — than in your local freezer aisle.
One U.S. manufacturer offers Cuban cigar, spicy pineapple-cilantro and even fried chicken and waffle ice cream. “The flavour we thought nobody would buy was balsamic fig mascarpone, and that’s the one we’re out of,” says Coolhaus co-founder Natasha Case about the company’s recent experience at a trade show.
“All the buyers want that one. Two years ago, we were out of vanilla. That buyer at that show who does five to 300 grocery chains wants to know what’s cool, whereas before they just wanted to know you could do vanilla well.”
