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Case

Vegan Nicecream – nice to eat and nice to the earth

12. March 2021

Solution provider

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Nicecream on a green mission

Food production is driving 30% of humanity’s greenhouse gas emissions, with meat and dairy responsible for the majority of that, and dairy accounting specifically for 30% of the methane gas emission (methane has a 28-34 times higher climate impact than CO2).
Production of 1 kg of dairy based ice cream generates 3,6 kg CO2 and consumes 200 l of water. Over 50% of the CO2 impact of dairy ice cream derives from the ingredients, whereof milk is responsible for 79%.

Each year the world population consumes billions of tons of dairy based ice cream, driving massive greenhouse gas emissions and consuming billions of tons of fresh water.

NicecreamCPH is on a mission to promote a greener, healthier, more sustainable global diet - one plant based ice cream scoop at a time.

Pleasing the consumer

Consumer interest for plant based ice cream is increasing dramatically, but too many consumers find that plant based ice cream lacks the soft creaminess of dairy ice cream, and that it is too expensive - both of which inhibit widespread adoption.

NicecreamCPH has gained huge popularity in Denmark by succeeding in developing 100% plant based organic ice cream that has the smooth and creamy texture of dairy ice cream, and with no compromise on taste.

From 1 bike to 4 stores

What started out in 2015 with an ice cream bike that toured central Copenhagen, has today turned into 4 hugely popular ice cream stores across Copenhagen, stalls at most major food and music festivals in Denmark, and distribution via some of Denmark’s largest grocery retail chains, including IRMA, Superbrugsen, Meny, etc.

All the ice cream is still hand craft manufactured in a small building in Hørsholm North of Copenhagen using only natural organic ingredients.

Great taste and texture at a lower retail price point

NicecreamCPH’s next step is international export, and Danish quality food products are in high demand internationally.

To succeed with expansion and export, and already having succeeded in developing great taste and a smooth creamy texture, NicecreamCPH needs to tackle the second main challenge facing plant based food manufacturers: bring down production price and scale production.

Widespread adoption of plant based ice cream requires a lower retail price point, but plant based ice cream is inherently more expensive to manufacture than dairy ice cream.

While dairy based ice cream production has been optimized and industrialized for decades, plant based ice cream production still to a large extent lacks scientific knowledge, processes and efficient production technology.

The solution

One of the critical issues to solve is how to produce plant based ice cream with a stable “overrun”, i.e. injecting and capturing small air bubbles inside the ice cream, not only to make the ice cream smooth and soft, but also to make it lighter and drive down ingredients costs.

Most dairy ice cream is manufactured with up to 100% over run effect, meaning that 50% of the final dairy ice cream is air. That level of overrun has not yet been achieved in plant based ice cream, and ice cream manufacturers across the world are struggling to figure out how to replace the proteins and fats from milk, cream and eggs, with plant based ingredients that can create the same stable overrun effect.

NicecreamCPH is embarking on that journey by aiming to invest in research and research partnerships with Copenhagen University and protein technology solution providers, and expect to invest heavily in new manufacturing technology that can solve some of these challenges and drive down production costs.

Read more: https://www.nicecreamcph.com/