The ice cream market is experiencing significant growth, particularly in metro cities and among SEC B consumers.
This Report explores both the motivations behind ice cream consumption and the key barriers preventing some from indulging.
With the rise of social media and the growing demand for visually appealing treats, the Report also highlights popular toppings that can capture consumer interest.
Additionally, as health-consciousness continues to influence indulgence-focused categories, the Report examines features that can encourage parents to choose ice cream as a treat for their children.
This report looks at the following areas:
- Consumption frequency of ice cream in the last three months
- Key reasons driving consumption of ice cream
- Key reasons for not consuming ice cream among non-consumers
- Attitude of consumers towards replacing mithai with ice cream
- Topping innovations of interest
- Key features that will encourage parents to purchase ice cream for their children aged 0-12
- Three key trends influencing the ice cream industry
The ice cream market is thriving, presenting exciting opportunities for growth. Brands can position ice cream as a festive alternative to traditional mithai, develop unique and eye-catching toppings and explore the largely untapped potential of the children’s segment.
Tulsi Joshi, Senior Food & Drink Analyst, India
Market Definitions
The term ‘ice cream’ includes dairy-based ice cream and frozen yogurt (bar, complete, cone, cup/tub, push tube, sandwich, stick and others), plant-based ice cream and frozen yogurt (from dairy alternatives), water-based lollies, pops and sorbets.
It excludes chilled desserts, frozen desserts and flavoured yogurt
Collapse All
-
EXECUTIVE SUMMARY
- Mintel’s perspective
- Key issues covered in this Report
- Overview
- Increase consumption frequency by tapping into key consumption drivers
- Expand market reach by overcoming consumption barriers
- Graph 1: reasons for not consuming ice cream in the last three months, by non-consumers, 2024
- Harness the mithai alternative opportunity
- Graph 2: % of consumers who agree to select statements, 2024
- Opportune time for mithai replacements
- Graph 3: % of consumers who agree to select statements, 2024
- Enhance taste and visual indulgence with chocolate chips and sauce, crushed nuts, fruit sauce and a touch of jam
- Graph 4: topping innovations of interest in ice cream, 2024
- Enhance taste and visual indulgence with chocolate chips and sauce, crushed nuts, fruit sauce and a touch of jam
- Graph 5: select topping innovation of interest in ice cream, by gender, age, city tier and consumption frequency, 2024
- Tap into the white space of children’s ice cream
- Tap into the white space of children’s ice cream: lead with claims of real milk, nutritional superiority, lower sugar and engaging packaging
- Graph 6: features to encourage purchases of packaged ice cream among parents with child/children aged 0-12, 2024
- Mintel predicts
- The outlook for ice cream in India, 2024
-
KEY TRENDS
- What you need to know
- The ‘newstalgia’ is here!
- Indians seek nostalgia and novelty…
- …and ethnic flavours
- Nostalgia is in the past; ‘newstalgia’ is here
- Familiar flavours are taking the cake, even in ice cream
- Indian brands increasingly harness the power of ‘newstalgia’ in their communication
- Social media fuels the ‘eat with your eyes’ trend
- Indians ‘eat with their eyes’
- Social media is escalating the need for aesthetic appeal in food and drink to new levels
- Brands collaborate with social media influencers to captivate users visually
- Social media trends are inspiring packaged ice cream innovations
- Growing focus on wellness in indulgent choices
- Health movement continues to gain momentum amid the rise in non-communicable diseases
- Mental wellbeing is declining among younger Indians; are sweet treats their go-to coping mechanism for stress?
- Indians are experiencing conflicting desires for indulgence and healthfulness in food and drinks
- Graph 7: health interest in indulgent food & drinks products, 2024
- Graph 8: consumers who look for healthy products when choosing packaged non-alcoholic beverages, 2024
- Sugar villification is on the rise
- Graph 9: % of launches with select claims in food and drinks, 2021-24
- Graph 10: % of consumers who chose ‘low in sugar content’ as one of their top three factors when shopping for food*, 2021-24
- New-age Indian brands are addressing sugar aversion in diverse ways
-
WHAT CONSUMERS WANT AND WHY
- What you need to know
- Ice cream launches are gathering momentum
- Graph 11: total share of launch type in ice cream, 2020-24
- Graph 12: total share of ice cream launches, 2020-24
- Ice cream remains a hot topic on social media
- The rising middle class and metro cities are fuelling the growth of India’s ice cream market
- Graph 13: consumption of ice cream in the last three months, 2023 vs 2024
- Market reach expands, but frequent consumption remains unchanged
- Graph 14: consumption frequency of ice cream in the last three months, 2023 vs 2024
- Key consumption drivers
- Mood boost, celebrations, need for refreshment and family bonding are top consumption drivers
- Graph 15: reasons for consuming ice cream in the last three months, 2024
- Adopt a tailored GTM approach, as consumption drivers differ by city tier
- Premiumise by targeting affluent Indians with me-time and we-time indulgence
- Graph 16: select reason for consuming ice cream in the last three months, by socio-economic class, 2024
- Graph 17: select reason for consuming ice cream in the last three months, by socio-economic class, 2024
- Havmor launches plum ice cream cake for christmas
- Ice cream can be the new celebratory cake/dessert
- Mintel Spark innovates the ice cream cake for celebrations and sharing
- Integrate ice cream into self-care rituals to boost its relevance and encourage more-frequent indulgence
- Target older women and Tier 1 city dwellers by promoting ice cream as a mood booster
- Graph 18: select reason for consuming ice cream in the last three months, by age and gender, 2024
- Graph 19: select reasons for consuming ice cream in the last three months, by city tier, 2024
- Make mood-boosting central to communication and innovation
- Be a chill pill for hot summer days
- Include fun elements for kids/family to bond over together
- Mintel Spark develops ice cream kit for family bonding
- Compete with snacks and chocolates through innovative and exciting offerings
- Innovate with fun formats and shapes to rival snacks and chocolates
- Market expansion barriers
- A third of Indians haven’t had ice cream in the last three months
- Health concerns, dental issues and sugar are the top barriers
- Graph 20: reasons for not consuming ice cream in the last three months, by non-consumers, 2024
- Status quo: no added sugar claims dominate, low in sugar shows the most increase
- Graph 21: % of launches with select claims in ice cream, 2019-24
- Graph 22: % of launches with select claims in ice cream, 2019-24
- Widen market reach by innovating flavours, unique formats and enhanced sensorial experiences in low/no added sugar or sugar-free variants
- Graph 23: select reason for not consuming ice cream in the last three months, by current financial situation, 2024
- Lead with flavour variety and uncompromised taste; keep sugar benefits as secondary focus
- Emphasise irresistible texture while offering low/no added sugar or sugar-free indulgence
- It’s time to debunk ice cream myths – change the narrative by serving low-/sugar-free ice cream
- Ice cream can be the new mithai
- Ice cream has the potential to take a slice of the pie from the growing mithai market
- Nearly a third of Indians are open to replacing mithai with ice cream
- Graph 24: % of consumers who agree to select statement, by gender and age, region, city tier and employment and gender, 2024
- Harness the light and refreshing charm of ice cream to be a modern alternative to traditional mithai
- Graph 25: % of consumers who agree to select statement, by city tier, 2024
- Graph 26: % of consumers who agree to select statements, by select consumer segment, 2024
- Key barriers for ice cream to replace mithai: taste, health appeal and cultural significance
- Enhance the taste factor by adding local premium ingredients
- Graph 27: % of consumers who agree to select statement, by city tier, 2024
- Elevate taste with premium Indian ingredients to rival the taste of traditional mithai
- Better-for-you ice cream can carve its niche as a mithai alternative among metro dwellers
- Graph 28: % of consumers who agree to select statement, by city tier, 2024
- New-age better-for-you ice cream communicates guilt-free festivities
- Foster cultural connections by embracing regional festivities
- Bite-sized ice cream can be a convenient twist to mithais for the festive season
- Graph 29: % of consumers who agree to select statement, by select consumer segement and city tier
- Indian brands are launching miniature, bite-sized multipacks
- Innovate bite-sized, mini packs in various formats as mithai replacement
- Flavour innovation – key to unlocking opportunities in the mithai alternative market
- Take inspiration from sweet bakery for flavour innovation for mithai alternatives
- Graph 30: top five flavour innovations of interest in packaged sweet bakery, 2024
- For flavours, get mithai-inspired
- Mintel Spark demonstrates the concept of ice cream for replacing mithai for festivities
- Topping innovations
- Topping is to ice cream what cherry is to cake
- The cherries to top off the ice cream are chocolate chips, chocolate sauce and crushed nuts
- Graph 31: topping innovations of interest in ice cream, 2024
- Tailor topping innovations to align with regional preferences
- Maximise reach by innovating ice cream with choco chips, chocolate sauce and crushed nuts toppings
- Ben & Jerry’s celebrates toppings in its Sundae series
- Mini Melts adds excitement to ice cream with one-of-a-kind fun toppings
- Innovate ice cream with separate topping sachets
- Target women, younger generations, metro dwellers and frequent consumers with chocolate-chip-topped ice cream
- Graph 32: select topping innovation of interest in ice cream, by gender, age, city tier and consumption frequency, 2024
- Create standout offerings by experimenting with different types of chocolate chips as toppings
- Elevate ice cream indulgence with a chocolate sauce topping
- Graph 33: select topping innovation of interest in ice cream, by age, 2024
- Chocolate sauce can enhance the indulgence of any ice cream variety
- Crushed nuts have the potential to entice older generations
- Graph 34: select topping innovation of interest in ice cream, by generation, 2024
- Now: crush it with nut toppings!
- Next: uncommon nut toppings can be a segue to premiumisation
- Ingredientscape AI: the basics
- Interpreting the map
- Offer multi-textural indulgence with fruit sauce and jelly/jam
- Graph 35: select topping innovation of interest in ice cream, by select consumer segment, 2024
- Mintel Spark creates ice cream with customisable toppings for indulgent snacking
- Better-for-you ice creams for children
- Unlock potential for children’s ice cream: lead with claims of real milk, nutritional superiority and engaging packaging
- Graph 36: features to encourage purchases of packaged ice cream among parents with child/children aged 0-12, 2024
- Maximise reach among parents with claims of real milk and high calcium, showcased through vibrant, child-friendly packaging designed to captivate young audiences
- Real milk claim can lead the clean label movement in ice cream
- Take notes from Kinder to target children and parents with real milk claim and engaging children with toys
- An untapped opportunity: protein- and calcium-rich ice cream designed for children
- Graph 37: % of launches with select claim in ice cream, 2021-24
- Global brands are integrating real milk with rich-in-calcium claims for ice cream made for children
- Take a pro-protein approach for children’s ice cream
- Target sugar-conscious parents with kid-sized portions and natural sweeteners
- Graph 38: features to encourage purchases of packaged ice cream among parents with child/children aged 0-12, 2024
- Innovate children’s ice cream made with natural sweeteners in kid-friendly portion sizes
- Children eat with their eyes
- Take notes from Kinder’s success: excite children with surprise fun toys
- Wall’s Ice Cream launches ‘The Happiness Project’ aimed at helping children discover and spread happiness
-
APPENDIX
- Report definition
- Consumer survey methodology
- TURF methodology
Why Choose Mintel?
Mintel is the world’s leading market intelligence agency. We show you how consumers think today and tomorrow. As a trusted partner to industry leaders, we deliver game-changing insights to businesses across the globe, fuelling their marketing and innovation strategies that will shape the future.
Access high-quality market research with every purchase of Mintel’s consumer reports. Here’s what else is included in your report purchase:
- Multiple Report Formats: Mintel’s reports are available in PDF and PPT formats, and are delivered straight to your inbox, so you can easily share Mintel’s market intelligence.
- Access to Mintel’s Clients Portal: After your purchase is completed, you’ll receive an invitation to join Mintel’s Clients Portal, providing instant access to supplementary insights from Mintel’s industry experts.
- Interactive Databook: Mintel’s bespoke consumer data is presented as an interactive website, so you can deep dive into your chosen topic, explore demographics and download specific statistics.
- Custom Presentation Tool: Easily incorporate selected research data and analysis into a tailor-made presentation to win over clients and stakeholders.
Below is a generic PDF sample report. Understand what you are buying.
Please Note: All of the figures, graphs, and tables have been redacted.
£ 2,195 (Excl.Tax)
-
Download today with instant access
Pay via credit card or purchase order
-
Multiple formats provided
We send a PDF, Powerpoint and Excel Databook straight to your inbox. An interactive version of the report is also available on our online platform
-
Interactive databook included
Focus on the data that matters most to you with a customisable databook avaliable on our platform
-
Save up to 20% when you purchase multiple reports
Discount is applied directly at checkout
Next Starts Here
Whatever your business needs, we have the solution. From market intelligence reports to customised growth strategies.
Learn moreTrusted by global industry leaders
When I’m investigating specific sectors I tend to use Mintel reports for their forecasting, which I’ve always found to be very accurate.
They also offer really broad and deep coverage in their reports. They are very, very detailed. For example, we were able to gain insight across a wide range of business areas from just one report, proving that Mintel is excellent value for money.
So overall, it’s the level of detail and the quality of forecasting that really stand out for me.
Rebecca Green, Market Insight Manager, Wincanton
We utilize Mintel Reports, Trends and Comperemedia to mine for insights across the numerous business verticals that Epsilon serves, such as CPG, automotive, telecom, healthcare/pharma, retail and financial services.
By integrating Mintel insight into new business opportunities, we have been able to gain the competitive edge necessary to advance partnerships with global brands and key business players.
For our organization, it’s about depth and breadth. Having one without the other doesn’t enable success in our business.
Virginia Harvey, Secondary Research Manager, Epsilon
Mintel helps us when we want to know something quickly – it provides fast answers to our questions. If we need to get a view of what’s going on in a particular market it’s very useful.
When carrying out background research, I find Mintel an excellent starting point.
The fact that it covers so many markets is a big plus for me– instead of having to buy specialist products in each area we are interested in, especially when we only require a brief view on a particular market, we can go to Mintel for help as a one-stop shop. I find Mintel a useful and valuable resource.
Ben Zeidler, Director - Research and Analytics, Tenth Wave
At Jackman, we believe that powerful strategies are based on human insight. Mintel’s leading-edge reports and insights into consumer attitudes and behaviors are an important input as we develop and execute strategy.
Alana Gavin, VP Research and Insights, Jackman
We have such a great working relationship with Mintel on lots of different levels. As an insight partner, they have helped us to develop our business planning in specific categories as well as supporting our creative process but they’ve also been super helpful with facilitating our events in their inspirational offices near St Paul’s.
They’re an innovative company, with a client-focused team that always delivers.
Abby Carvosso, Group Managing Director, Bauer Media Group
Next Starts Here
Whatever your business needs, we have the solution. From market intelligence reports to customised growth strategies.
Learn more
