The Challenge: Create guilt-free indulgence that doesn't compromise on creaminess by reducing sugar (25%) and fat (50%) *
Health-conscious consumers want it all: ice cream that tastes incredible but fits their wellness goals. Our global customer faced a complex challenge: how do you cut sugar and fat while keeping that rich, creamy mouthfeel people crave leveraging cleaner label ingredients?
Reformulating frozen desserts isn’t just about removing ingredients. It’s about understanding what makes ice cream delicious in the first place and then finding smarter solutions to deliver that same indulgent experience.
Science
We approached this challenge with the curiosity that drives everything we do. By leveraging a tailored combination of functional fibre systems, we developed a clean label formulation that delivered indulgent creaminess, reduced iciness, and improved melting resistance — while keeping a shorter and more friendly ingredient list.
We developed a clean label formulation that delivers:
- Stabilized emulsion with reduced ice crystal formation
- Enhanced creamy mouthfeel and fatty mouthcoating
- Sugar and fat reduction without sensory compromise
- Consistent performance across shelf life
Our cross-functional team — spanning applications, sensory science, consumer insights, and technical services — didn’t want to just create a healthier ice cream, they wanted to master it.
Process snapshot
We co-developed a tailored solution aligned with key market trends, to create a healthier, tastier ice cream that meets modern consumer expectations.
By harnessing the synergies of the ingredient portfolio and formulation expertise, we delivered not just technical performance - but a complete solution that enabled a better-for-you product with an elevated sensory experience - with indulgent mouthfeel at its core
Our agile approach focused on:
clean label, easy-to-process systems
operational simplicity and scalability
This insight-led collaboration turned a complex challenge into a standout market opportunity.
Solutions
To meet the textural and nutritional demands of better-for-you ice cream, the team selected a tailored combination of our ingredient solutions
- PROMITOR® Soluble Fibre – Provides clean taste and texture, enabling you to improve viscosity and mouthfeel without compromise
- NUTRAVA® Citrus Fibre – An upcycled, nature-derived texturant that enhances mouthfeel, improves water binding, supports emulsification, stabilization and contributes to clean label formulation.
Together, these solutions enabled a guilt-free ice cream hat supports indulgent taste, delayed melting, and consumer-friendly labelling - all while maintaining smooth, creamy texture your customers expect.
Results
The result was a cost-effective, process-friendly formulation that met the needs of manufacturers and consumers alike. Key benefits included:
- Smooth texture and stable creamy mouthfeel across shelf life
- Delayed melting for improved handling and consumer experience
- Improved fatty mouthcoating and reduced iciness
- Supports sugar and fat reduction while maintaining indulgence
- Enables clean label claims and E number removal
The solution aligned with what consumers really want: taste, health and simplicity. For our customer it meant launching differentiated, better-for-you frozen desserts with strong repurchase potential.
Society
This project shows that better-for-you ice cream can deliver genuine enjoyment. Brands benefit from innovation and nutrition differentiation, while consumers enjoy ice cream with fewer calories, less sugar, and clean label mouthfeel solutions, without compromising on taste or texture they love.
It reflects a future where clean label and indulgence work together, enabling healthier choices that still feel like a treat.
Consumer insight: What drive purchase decisions
- 38% of UK ice cream eaters would eat ice cream more frequently if it were lower in sugar¹
- 65% of UK consumers show interest in lower sugar ice cream made specifically for children²
- 40% of UK and German parents say nutrition and ingredient list are top purchase drivers for children’s ice cream³
38% of US ice cream buyers interested in trying Healthier versions of frozen treats4
84% of Thai consumers agree that ice creams that are both healthy and indulgent (i.e., healthy without sacrificing taste) are appealing4
In China, flavour (66%) is the top purchase factor for packaged ice cream, followed by texture (50%), ingredients (48%), and brand (48%).4
References
- Mintel. Ice Cream UK. 2022
- Tate & Lyle. Cool for Kids: The Inside Scoop on Ice Cream, p. 2. 2024
- Tate & Lyle. Cool for Kids: The Inside Scoop on Ice Cream, pp. 3–4. 2024
- Mintel. Ice Cream Trends, 2025
*This communication is made available for information purposes only and Tate & Lyle accepts no legal liability for their accuracy or completeness. Customers should obtain their own advice with regard to the legal and regulatory aspects of our food ingredients and their usage in the customer’s own products to determine suitability for their particular purposes, product claims, labelling strategies or specific applications in any particular jurisdiction.