Nestlé Moves to Simpler Ingredients for Ice Cream Portfolio

Taking into account consumer preferences yet still offering greater choice, Nestlé Dreyer's Ice Cream, the largest ice cream maker in the world, announced that key ingredient improvements to six iconic brands including Edy's, Häagen-Dazs, Outshine, Skinny Cow, Nestlé Ice Cream and Nestlé Drumstick.

This is the latest milestone in a multi-year effort to update existing products across the entire portfolio of brands. With a focus on simplifying ingredient lists while maintaining the same tastes that consumers have grown to love, the newest changes vary across more than 100 products, with examples including the removal of artificial colors and flavors, high fructose corn syrup and GMO ingredients.

 

Other noteworthy accomplishments include the use of fresh milk from cows not treated with rBST, the addition of more real fruit or fruit juice and a reduction in sugar by an average of 11 percent on select products. In December of last year, Nestlé also announced that it will transition to using only cage-free eggs in all of its US food products, including ice cream, within the next five years. Nationwide roll-out for the newly updated products began in March 2016.

 

"Nestlé Dreyer's Ice Cream understands that consumers want to know what's in their food, where those ingredients come from and how the food products they purchase are made," said Robert Kilmer, president of Nestlé Dreyer's Ice Cream.

 

"We are the industry leader when it comes to innovation and, as consumer demand centers on transparency and choice, we are responding with new ways to make ice cream even better. Using simpler ingredients that our consumers can recognize, and removing those that don't belong, is a natural next step for our brands."

 

Over the past 150 years, Nestlé has reimagined family-favorite foods by making them with less fat and sugar; reducing calories; including portion guidance messaging and using Facts Up Front labeling to display key nutrition information on the front of food and beverage packages. The evolution of the ice cream portfolio builds upon the company's ongoing efforts to improve ingredient profiles while maintaining the taste and flavors that their consumers expect.

 

The Evolution of Edy's Slow Churned
A marquee example is Edy's Slow Churned which features half the fat and one-third fewer calories than full-fat ice cream, and was introduced in 2004 -when consumer preference focused on lower calorie and reduced fat options, without sacrifice of flavor. A proprietary process that slowly churns ingredients together resulted in a rich, creamy ice cream – although it is a ‘light’ ice cream.

 

Now, nine of Nestlé’s most popular Edy's Slow Churned flavors will be branded Slow Churned Simple Recipes, to reflect their simpler ingredient profile. The improved recipes feature a label with seven or eight ingredients, reduced from an average of 22. Additional changes include the removal of all artificial colors and flavors, high fructose corn syrup and GMO ingredients along with the addition of fresh milk from cows not treated with rBST.

 

Examples of specific ingredients removed include carrageenan and xanthan gum, replaced with ingredients such as pectin. The team, led by research scientist Michael Sharp, analyzed every ingredient and recipe to determine the opportunity to simplify the ingredient list.

 

"Our mission is to deliver the best product for the consumer," said Sharp. "In the case of Simple Recipes, this meant maintaining the great taste and texture of an established and well-liked product with simpler ingredients that consumers understand."

 

Nestlé plans to update the remaining Slow Churned flavors by the end of 2017, and will continue to update other products across all brands in its portfolio.