The company recently expanded its product line. In its chunky pint line are the new flavors Cherry Chocolate Chunk, Rocky Road Trip, and Peanut Butter Swirl. A new Cake Batter flavor was added to the dipped bar line.
Chunky pints make up a bulk of the company’s sales growth. The line was launched in 2015, and Arctic Zero CEO Amit Pandhi told FoodNavigator-USA that it experienced a 180% sales growth in 2016. “That’s one of the reasons we decided to launch three new chunkies.”
Like all Arctic Zero products, the amount of sugar per product is kept lower than other products in its category at about 10g per serving. The main sweetener is monkfruit, and the brand promises no synthetic sweeteners. It’s all part of the company’s mission to be ‘clean label’—but what does this mean exactly?
“Arctic Zero aims to be the cleanest ice cream alternative in the freezer aisle. We’re so meticulous in choosing the best ingredients that are functional, from our whey protein to our fibers to our sweeteners,” he said.
In Arctic Zero's philosophy, being a clean label ice cream isn't just about being free from something; it's also about the quality and source of the ingredients that actually go in a product. For example, while formulating the new flavors, Arctic Zero used real cherries from the Pacific Northwest, peanuts from the US South, and non-gelatin marshmallows. The chocolate used is soy-free, and comes from small farmers in the Dominican Republic and Uganda, while the red velvet dip in the Cake Batter variety is colored with of beet juice.
New video 'a way for us to share why the ingredients were chosen'
While it’s difficult to fit in all the ingredient sourcing information on pack, the company opted for a social media campaign with a video telling the story of Arctic Zero’s ingredient sourcing, which launched today.
In the video, a hand draws illustrations on a white board, as a voiceover narrates what makes the company’s products special: Using whey protein to keep the texture creamy but friendly to lactose-intolerant consumers, sourcing monk fruit from mountains in Asia to make the product low glycemic, and so forth.
“The video was a way for us to share in a fun and brand-centric way more detail on those ingredient choices and why we chose them,” Pandhi said. “We wanted consumers to understand our unique proposition that’s not just low-calorie, low-sugar, low-fat.”
Free-from and clean label driving ice cream’s growth
New flavors aren't all that's new for the brand this year; it also secured distribution with Target. It's a reflection of how much consumers today prioritize ‘better-for-you’ products, even in the indulgent section, said Pandhi
The seven-year-old brand grew in the independent and natural channel, and then secured national distribution through giant retailers like Walmart, Publix, Kroger, and Safeway. “Target was kind of a natural extension for us, moving into the mass channel where more consumers shop and have access to our product,” Pandhi told FoodNavigator-USA.
Ice cream with health claims and free-from claims is a category that more conventional retailers are betting on, and numbers show how this sub-section is really driving sales growth in the $28bn sub-zero dessert category, according to Packaged Facts (figures include foodservice and retail).
Interested in clean label trends? Sign up for our FREE to attend webinar: Where next for clean label? on May 23. The event, sponsored by Farbest, ADM, Ingredion, and Cargill, explores...
- The evolution from clean label 1.0 to clean label 2.0
- Who really cares about clean label?
- How do consumers understand different elements of clean label?
- What does it take to clean up labeling?