Nestlé is trialling its first ice cream brand featuring Nescafé coffee. While coffee flavoured ice creams might not seem like anything new to the fixture, Nestlé believes its NPD offers a ‘unique’ experience.
“This innovation appeals to consumers who want to enjoy a unique ice-cream taste and eating experience,” a spokesperson told DairyReporter.
"We didn't just want to make a coffee-flavored ice cream, but rather take the Nescafé coffee experience and recreate it in the ice cream category. This indulgent, premium ice cream is the perfect treat for consumers,” Global Head Confectionery and Ice Cream Strategic Business Unit, Alexander von Maillot, noted.
So what makes this ice cream ‘unique’? Two things, according to Nestlé: the use of real coffee beans and the company’s soft coating technology.
Nescafé Gold Cappuccino Ice Cream full of beans
The Nescafé Gold Cappuccino Ice Cream ‘breaks new ground’ by using coffee beans in both the coating and core of the ice cream, as opposed to coffee flavours.
Nestlé’s product development teams replaced the cocoa solids used in typical chocolate-coated stick ice-creams with real coffee. “The major difference between using coffee grounds and flavours, is the fact that the coffee grounds enable us to deliver a unique ice-cream taste,” the spokesperson detailed.
The company is able to strike the ‘perfect balance’ between coffee, dairy and sweet flavours by leveraging its ‘soft coating technology’, they continued.
"Leveraging this 'soft coating' technology, our teams met the challenge of finding the perfect balance between 'coffee-ness', milkiness and sweetness,” Guglielmo Bonora, Head of Nestlé R&D Singapore, explained.
IP protected soft coating tech a category stand-out
The coating or ganache that covers the Nescafé Gold Cappuccino Ice Cream is made using Nestlé's patented 'soft coating' technology.
In contrast to the hard coatings used in typical chocolate-based stick ice creams, this soft ganache uses Nescafé Gold coffee, which also features in the ice cream core.
"The ganache is designed to melt at a similar rate to the ice cream core, so people can better enjoy the release of sweetness and coffee from the coating, alongside the ice cream,” Bonora said.
Nestlé declined to share details on potential future further application of the IP-protected tech.
The ice cream is being offered on a trial basis to Malaysian consumers ‘over the next few months’, with a view to further global rollout. “We are currently piloting the ice-cream in Malaysia and the launch is already generating a lot of excitement. After this, we will explore the potential next steps,” we were told.
Nescafé Gold Cappuccino Ice Cream is sold in a paper wrapper that is designed to be recycled via the paper stream.