From extra creamy soft serve to bite-sized snacking formats and new eating occasions, we take a look at what’s trending across the global plant-based ice cream market.

The frozen dessert category for those avoiding dairy is no longer dominated by sorbet, as was once the case – over the last decade, the rise in demand for vegan and dairy-free options has seen numerous creamy plant-based pints, sticks and soft serve welcomed into the ice cream category, embraced by small artisan brands and major household names alike.

Market data firm Mordor Intelligence values the global plant-based ice cream market at $1.83 billion in 2025, driven by dietary restrictions becoming more prevalent– in Canada, for example, approximately 59% of the population was identified as lactose intolerant in 2022 according to Mordor, driving demand for dairy-free alternatives. Additionally, many plant-based dairy alternatives contain less fat and are positioned as healthier options compared to those made with cow’s milk, attracting more health-conscious consumers.

Mara Llanera, chocolate and ice cream marketing manager at Cargill, said: “Dairy remains a staple in European diets, with most consumers enjoying it daily. However, there is a rising interest in plant-based and functional dairy alternatives, as health-conscious and sustainability-driven consumers seek options that align with their evolving preferences.”

Reimagining indulgence

With Kantar research showing that the leading reason for consumers purchasing ice cream is to enjoy an indulgent treat, efforts to improve ice cream products’ nutritional profile should be balanced with ensuring high-quality taste and texture is maintained to satisfy the everyday shopper’s sweet tooth.

“For manufacturers, the challenge lies in striking the right balance between health, indulgence and cost-efficiency,” noted Cargill’s Llanera. “Developing dairy-free ice cream products requires overcoming significant formulation hurdles, particularly in replicating the creamy texture and rich mouthfeel of dairy without compromising on taste. Cargill serves as a co-creation partner, offering a broad portfolio of solutions, from oils and fats, sweeteners and functional systems that enhance mouthfeel in plant-based alternatives, to plant proteins that help create nutritionally balanced formulations.”

Ice cream flavours and formats with a premium and luxury feel are on the rise as consumers seek satisfying and pleasurable eating experiences. Products that cater to demand for ‘multi sensorial’ experiences are gaining traction in this space – Unilever’s Magnum ice cream brand tapped into this trend last year with the launch of its vegan blueberry cookie ice cream sticks, featuring a blueberry sorbet core encased in dairy-free vanilla biscuit-flavoured ice cream and cookie biscuits. The brand has also recently reformulated its entire vegan range with a new soya-based recipe, said to offer a more ‘velvety’ texture.

Cargill has observed this demand for elevated experiences, conjuring up concepts such as its ‘Frozen ChocoLuxe Decadence,’ featuring layers of chocolate ice cream, creamy mousse and a tangy blackcurrant twist for a rich, multi-textured experience. The company has also developed the ‘Reimagined Morning Ice Cream Bar,’ blending a crunchy granola-chocolate base with oat milk sorbet and mango curd, coated in dark cocoa and granola.

“As snacking culture grows and consumers embrace ice cream as an all-day indulgence, we expect to see more breakfast-inspired frozen treats and functional dairy alternatives, that cater to a variety of consumption moments,” Llanera said.

Coconut and oat remain popular base options for manufacturers looking to capture the indulgent, rich and creamy mouthfeel afforded by traditional dairy ice cream. A new frozen dessert brand based in Canada, Kaiser, champions the oat in its line-up of vegan-friendly tubs and chocolate-dipped bars. The range is crafted using oat beverage, rather than powdered oats, to deliver a creamier texture and more ‘premium’ experience. It is available in classic favourite flavours such as mint chip and vanilla, as well as more indulgent and trending flavour combinations like cookies and cream, salted caramel and banana chocolate.

Nostalgic snacks

The broader food and beverage industry trend for nostalgic experiences and modern twists on classic flavours has made its way into the plant-based ice cream category, while Cargill’s Llanera observed that younger generations are also shifting toward snack-based consumption.

A stand-out example of this, unveiled in July 2024, was frozen dessert brand GoodPop’s partnership with Kraft Heinz’s potato-based frozen food brand, Ore-Ida. The adventurous collaboration saw the launch of a limited-edition ‘Fudge n’ Vanilla French Fry Pop,’ featuring a frozen vanilla oat milk base in a rich, chocolate fudge shell rolled in real, crispy potato bits. This aimed to tap into US consumers’ preferences for the unique taste experience of dipping salty French fries into cold, sweet and creamy milkshakes.

Daniel Goetz, CEO and co-founder of GoodPop, said that the brand’s goal is to elevate

expectations for nostalgic favourites, adding: “At GoodPop, we love creating cleaned-up versions of classic treats. With this seasonal collaboration, we [hoped] to rekindle that childlike joy of summer, with a decidedly modern twist.”

In the UK, Over The Moo – a brand that initially launched in Australia, offering dairy-free ice cream in tub format – has launched a bite-sized ice cream range offering a vegan take on the choc ice, a classic favourite that evokes feelings of childhood nostalgia for many.

The bite-sized ice cream snacks have launched in vanilla, caramel and, most recently, chocolate flavours. According to the brand, it leverages sustainably sourced coconuts from Indonesia and the Philippines to develop its coconut milk ice cream base, which is rich in beneficial manganese. Additionally, the inclusion of pea protein levels up nutrition while providing a non-allergenic alternative to whey.

“Historically, there was an unwise bias towards functional soya, oat or almond milk,” Simon

Goodman, founder of Over The Moo UK, told The Plant Base. He revealed that in late 2024, the brand made improvements to its range, enhancing it with an extra thick chocolate enrobing based on extensive client feedback.

This enabled it to capture the “all important crackle as you bite, reminiscent of the classic choc ice yet infinitely better,” he enthused – additionally, extra insulation slowed down the products’ melt rate. A new flavour is in the works, slated for launch in Autumn 2025 – although Goodman is keeping the details under wraps for now.

Health and sustainability

Health factors into some shoppers’ decisions to go dairy-free – and while ice cream may be an indulgent treat, brands have noted the demand for better-for-you variants that still tick all the right boxes when it comes to enjoyable eating experiences.

Cargill’s Llanera pointed out: “Many [consumers] are looking for clean label formulations with reduced sugar and saturated fats, as well as higher protein content, while still expecting the indulgence and texture of traditional dairy products.”

Numerous recipe videos for the viral healthy dessert concept of ‘nice cream’ – a dairy-free, home-made alternative to ice cream in which frozen fruits, often bananas, are blended with additional ingredients like nut butters – have exploded in popularity on social media in recent years. And brands such as Halo Top and Arctic Zero appeal to consumers seeking low-calorie options, offering rich and sweet flavours like pistachio and salted caramel pecan while slashing the calorie content of traditional tubs.

Responding to this demand, Italian ingredients provider Comprital introduced Pure Vegan last year – a line of three clean label vegan gelato bases developed using natural ingredients such as cane sugar and fibres including chicory, citrus and bamboo.

The line is free from artificial flavours and includes three solutions. Pure Vegan PZ is a base designed to be flavoured with only sugar pastes, while Pure Vegan PG is crafted for flavouring with only fat pastes, and Pure Vegan Chocolate offers high percentages of chocolate powder and low-fat cocoa powder.

With environmental awareness also on the rise, Cargill’s Llanera expects sustainable indulgence to continue to drive product development. “Consumers are paying greater attention to the environmental impact of their food choices, leading to a surge in demand for more sustainable ingredient sourcing, including alternatives to traditional cocoa and nut-based products,” she explained.

Cargill’s work in this area includes a partnership with Voyage Foods, a US start-up developing upcycled alternatives to products that face ‘uncertain futures’ due to their sourcing challenges – such as chocolate – as well as focusing on providing options that are free from common allergens.

Voyage’s patented technology is based on gently roasted and processed raw materials, such as sunflower kernels and grape seeds. Llanera said this technology is “the backbone” of Cargill’s ‘Indulgence Redefined’ offering, which harnesses these innovations to create next-generation treats, such as a vegan ice cream stick coated in Voyage’s cocoa-free alternative to chocolate.

Soft serve

One hot (or cold) trend that has seen manufacturers whipping up innovation over

the past couple of years is dairy-free soft serve. Soft serve is produced and stored at a higher temperature than ‘hard’ ice cream, with more air introduced during the freezing process to achieve its iconic light and creamy texture. Traditional dairy variants also typically contain less milk fat. It is widely available via the foodservice market, churned out by soft serve machines.

Now, the industry has begun to embrace plant-based versions, which are becoming all the

more adventurous – Swedish oat milk giant Oatly, which introduced its own oat-based soft serve to the UK foodservice sector in 2023, partnered with Pernod Ricard-owned spirit brand Malibu to develop a piña colada-flavoured alcoholic version last summer. The 1.5% ABV soft serve targeted Gen Z consumers, who may be more inclined to experiment with flavours.

Beans and pulses have proven popular choices for the formulation of dairy-free soft serve mixes. Ingredients specialist Cosun showcased a plant-based soft serve concept at Food Ingredients Europe 2024, created using its Tendra protein, which is made from European-grown fava beans.

Pippa Vogel, application specialist at Cosun, said: “Neutral taste is essential when [formulating] soft serve ice cream, you want to avoid unpleasant mouthfeel and aftertaste. Tendra ensures a neutral-tasting soft serve. Also, stability of the soft serve mix is crucial – again, this is where Tendra makes the difference.”

She explained that Tendra adds little viscosity to the soft serve pre-mix in comparison to some other plant proteins, enabling a good overrun and smooth mouthfeel.

Flora Food Group’s Flora Professional, meanwhile, uses lentil protein to create the dairy-free soft serve mix it supplies to its foodservice customers. Liv Kitching, senior marketing manager at Flora Food Group, said that the mix works across all types of soft serve ice cream and gelato machines, so requires no operational changes.

“It also has a higher melting resistance versus dairy-based soft serve, so it’ll last longer on those hot summer days,” she pointed out, adding that the lentil protein and coconut oil fat structure ensures the mix melts at a slower rate than dairy-based mixes.

Top image: © Kaiser