Late night cravings? Nightfood ice cream provides some sleep-friendly indulgence

18 Feb 2019 --- Tapping into the growing snacking trend, Nightfood Inc. has launched a line of ice creams that boast a low-calorie, sleep-friendly formulation. Although the products do not contain any sleep activating chemicals such as melatonin, they are touted as not interfering with sleep due to their reduced sugar, caffeine and fat content. The company has announced its first major retail distribution deal which launches nationwide in the US this month.

“There are over 100,000,000 American consumers eating ice cream at night. Nightfood is the only product specifically formulated as a better choice before bed,” says Sean Folkson, Nightfood CEO.

According to an Innova Market Insights consumer analysis presented at the 2018 IFT Food Expo in Chicago, for US consumers (2017), afternoon snack (27 percent) and evening snack (26 percent) periods of the day hold the highest food cravings. In this space, dairy products hold particularly strong potential.

“Nightfood is the first company to launch sleep-friendly foods,” says Dr. Michael Breus, one of the experts on the Nightfood product development team. 

The company says it has removed or minimized ingredients that are included in most other ice creams and can be sleep-disruptive, such as caffeine, sugars, excess fat and calories. This has made its recipes less likely to cause sleep disruption via lactose digestion issues, acid reflux and blood sugar spikes. Nightfood has added certain minerals and amino acids that claim to support sleep quality while its products contain no erythritol, sucralose or other artificial sweeteners.

“I have been raising caution with people for over a decade about their night time snacking choices and how food impacts sleep quality,” Dr. Breus adds. “Until now, I never had anything to point to that was specifically formulated to solve this problem. Once I joined the product development team at Nightfood, it was clear to me they understood the need for sleep-friendly snacks in every household.”

The Nightfood ice cream range includes flavors such as Midnight Chocolate, Cookies n' Dreams, Cold-Brew Decaf, After-Dinner Mint Chip, Full Moon Vanilla, Milk & Cookie Dough, Cherry Eclipse and Bed and Breakfast. The products are also available online via the company’s site and on Amazon. 

In the healthier ice creams space, Unilever last October launched its version of a better-for-you ice cream with probiotics and protein. New brand Culture Republick is a low-calorie alternative in the increasingly popular healthy ice cream category which saw Halo Top scoop US grocery sales in 2017, taking market share away from iconic giants Ben & Jerry’s and Häagen-Dazs.

Additionally, protein ice cream brand Koupe, released last year a product with whey as the key ingredient. The resulting protein ice cream contains 13 grams of whey protein isolate.