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Magnum unveils glow-in-the-dark ice lolly amid cost volatility
The BBC says competition and higher input costs, including dairy and cold-chain energy, are forcing ice-cream makers to keep innovating as prices fluctuate.
BBC Business visits the UK research and development center of Magnum, part of the largest publicly listed ice-cream maker, where products and production processes are being developed.
Magnum is targeting festival and club crowds with a glow-in-the-dark ice lolly launched in Ibiza, using naturally luminescent vitamin B2 to glow under UV club lights.
The report frames ice cream as a cost-sensitive business facing competition from other major brands and smaller makers, with fluctuating commodity and energy prices, plus broader instability affecting pricing. It notes that higher prices for dairy, cream, eggs, as well as flavors and cold-chain storage and energy costs, are among the pressures.
Magnum, which was spun off from Unilever last year and has a market capitalization of around £8bn, is also investing in refrigeration technology, with three million fridges and camera systems that use AI to identify products and estimate sales volume and timing.