Unilever-owned ice cream brand Magnum is to launch a new vegan flavour in the UK next month — Sea Salt Caramel. The flavour was first launched in the US earlier this year.
The bars feature a sea salt caramel base coated in dairy-free chocolate. They will be sold in packs of 3, retailing at around £3.69. The ice cream is pea protein-based.
Magnum launched its first vegan flavours, Classic and Almond, in 2018. Initially, they were only launched in Sweden and Finland, before being rolled out in several other countries.
Branching out into the plant-based sector has been lucrative for Unilever, which expects to generate over a billion euros in plant-based sales over the next 5-7 years.
And the numbers show that demand for vegan ice cream is rapidly increasing, as awareness of health issues continues to rise. Sales and launches of vegan ice cream have doubled in the past five years. In the UK, brands such as Oatly, Coconuts Organic, and Banana Scoops have launched dairy-free ice creams.
“Caramel is Magnum’s most popular ice cream flavor in dairy bars and tubs, so it’s exciting to bring it to market in an equally delicious non-dairy bar,” said North American director of marketing Leslie Miller.