Rich, indulgent and vegan ice cream manufacturing
Since more and more consumers are turning to plant-based products, the race is on to create deliciously creamy ice creams, without a single drop of cream. Plant-based vegan dessert1 and ice cream is a blossoming market that presents an exciting growth opportunity for producers.
See all our offerings for plant-based food production.
Recently, the market has expanded rapidly beyond the traditional plant staple of soy into a plethora of tastes and protein sources – from oat, cashew and almond to coconut, pea and avocado – and on to the latest frontier of potato, chia and chickpea. Each protein source has its own unique processing requirements, making plant-based frozen dessert a diverse and individualised market segment with wide differentiation between products.
Our smart processing technologies and expertise in ice cream ingredient handling can help make sure your plant-based desserts match traditional dairy ice cream for flavour, texture and mouthfeel.
Explore our ice cream best practice lines
All our ice-cream processing lines can run plant-based frozen desserts. However, the special properties of plant-based raw materials – especially their protein content – demand alternative processes in mix preparation and freezing, compared to conventional dairy mix types. Ingredient solubility and whippability, for example, differ significantly because proteins from a plant tend to generate high mix viscosities. These factors can be easily managed using specific options on our processing units and by utilising our specialist knowledge on how different mix types behave in our equipment and during the production process.
Explore insights for plant-based frozen desserts
1Frozen dessert is a term for all kinds of desserts that are meant to be eaten in a frozen condition. They include ice creams, sherbets, sorbets, frozen yoghurts and non-dairy frozen desserts. Dairy ice cream is made with legally defined amounts of milk fat and non-fat milk solids that vary between countries according to national regulations. This must be checked in each case by the food producer. For the purposes of these pages, references to plant-based ice cream could be read as synonymous with plant-based frozen dessert.