Ice Cream Summer 2026: Highlights on Flavor Innovation

 

National Ice Cream Month—July—has come and gone. Brands set out to impress this year. They did. 
But first, here’s some scoop on the category. New research from the National Frozen & Refrigerated Foods Association (NFRA) showed how consumer preferences are reshaping today’s ice cream category. 

Nearly all Americans (95%) enjoying ice cream at least once a year. Younger consumers are redefining the category through new flavor preferences, shopping habits and demand for products that better fit their lifestyles. 

One of the biggest shifts is in the flavors consumers are choosing. While chocolate, vanilla and strawberry remain America’s favorites, younger generations are seeking more adventure in their purchases. More than half (51%) of Gen Z consumers said they are “very interested” in unique or global flavors, compared with just 11% of Boomers, and they are also more likely to try seasonal and mystery flavors. Rather than replacing the classics, consumers are embracing both timeless favorites and adventurous new flavors. 

Changing tastes are also influencing how frozen treats are purchased and enjoyed. Millennials over-index for specialty frozen desserts, including gelato, frozen yogurt and dairy-free ice cream. Younger consumers are also more likely to purchase frozen treats through convenience stores and out-of-home channels, a sign of growing demand for greater variety. In fact, NFRA’s research also found that hot weather or summer cravings (43%), easy-at-home desserts (35%) and household requests (29%) are among the top drivers of frozen treat purchases, underscoring ice cream’s role in everyday moments and special occasions. 

Wellness is also making its way into the frozen dessert aisle. Nearly all consumers (92%) agreed that physical health and emotional wellbeing are interconnected, which has fueled interest in treats made with recognizable ingredients, portion control, lower sugar, added protein and other functional benefits. Interest in functional frozen treats is highest among Gen Z and Millennials, with three in 10 saying they are “very interested” in these benefits. Yet, taste remains the top priority, suggesting consumers want to balance indulgence with products that support their lifestyles. 

Even as consumer preferences evolve, one thing has remained consistent: despite price pressures, Americans continue to make room for ice cream. More than half (54%) said they have not changed how often they eat ice cream over the past year, while another 28% said they enjoy it even more. Rather than giving up ice cream altogether, consumers are adapting how they shop. To manage costs, 54% purchase ice cream from grocery stores instead of specialty shops, 39% shop sales and 32% choose store brands. These behaviors show consumers continue to prioritize ice cream while seeking value.

Here are some stand-out items that debuted this summer. 

United Dairy Farmers Inc., (UDF), a family-owned ice cream maker and regional convenience store and ice cream parlor chain, and Grippo Foods, a Cincinnati snack food company, teamed up for a collaboration that’s as unexpected as it is unmistakably Cincinnati. The two hometown favorites launched limited-edition Fun Food Crunch, which features buttered popcorn flavored ice cream mixed with a Bar-B-Q spice infused caramel swirl and chocolatey, crunchy pretzel pieces for a sweet-and-salty treat.

 

McConnell’s crossed borders with its new Toasted Sesame & Raspberry ice cream. It’s silky-smooth, toasted sesame-infused ice cream featuring Soom Premium Tahini. This gets swirled with McConnell’s house-made raspberry jam. Creamy, nutty, with a touch of sweetness. It’s peanut butter jelly time, but all grown up.

 

The company also rolled out Summer Corn & Blackberries ice cream. Peak summer sweet corn—yes, real corn kernels, transforms into a creamy, toasty, cereal-milk-like ice cream, swirled with house-made blackberry jam. 

 

The folks at GoodPop embraced the reality that there’s nothing quite as mouthwatering as dipping a salty and crispy French fry into a cold and creamy milkshake. Inspired by this delicious behavior, GoodPop collaborated with Ore-Ida, a frozen French fry brand of The Kraft Heinz Company, to launch the Fudge n’ Vanilla French Fry Pop, a first-of-its-kind frozen treat.

 

The novelty is a vanilla oatmilk frozen base wrapped in a rich, chocolate fudge shell rolled in real, crispy potato bits. The company also added two new varieties to its GoodPop’s n’ Cream line: Peaches n’ Cream and Berries n’ Cream.
 

 

Chelsea Piers, an iconic New York destination for sports, fitness and play, partnered with New York ice cream brand Ample Hills Creamery to offer a limited-edition flavor inspired by the energy and culture of the city: Matcha Berry Mash-Up. Originally developed through a shared vision of creating something playful, unexpected and community-driven, Matcha Berry Mash-Up is a blend of milk, cream, organic matcha green tea powder and strawberry puree.

 

Towards the end of National Ice Cream Month is National Tequila Day (July 24). This year, Happy Hour headed to the ice cream shop. Pantalones Organic Tequila and Tipsy Scoop gave fans a new way to cool down. The award-winning, USDA-certified organic tequila brand co-founded by Matthew and Camila McConaughey and the beloved boozy ice cream company teamed up to transform one of summer’s most iconic cocktails into a frozen dessert worthy of a double scoop.

The limited-edition Pantalones Peaches & Cream Margarita Ice Cream features fresh peach ice cream infused with Pantalones Organic Reposado Tequila and a hint of tangy lime. The partnership also included Pantalones Dallas Margarita Sorbet, an exclusive offering at Tipsy Scoop’s new Dallas Barlour. Inspired by the classic Texas Margarita, the dairy-free, vegan sorbet features citrus sorbet infused with Pantalones Organic Reposado Tequila, orange liqueur and fresh lime juice for a bright, balanced scoop that delivers the perfect blend of sweet and tart.

Protein Pints turned 2026’s National Ice Cream Day—July 19--into a nationwide adventure. The brand had a Golden Pint Scavenger Hunt, hiding physical Golden Pints in select cities across the country and awarding $1,000 plus free Protein Pints for the rest of the year to the first person in each city to decipher riddled clues and find each one.

The hunt kicked off with three days of daily clues dropping on the brand’s social media channels each day at 11:00 AM EST beginning July 16, with each clue narrowing down the search from state to city to exact landmark. On National Ice Cream Day, the race was on. The first person that arrived at each city’s designated landmark and found a Protein Pints team member holding the Golden Pint won the grand prize.

Mini Melts USA tapped into one of food’s biggest nostalgia trends this year with the launch of Fruity Cereal Crunch, a colorful new flavor inspired by the fruity breakfast cereal generations of Americans grew up loving. The launch comes as nostalgic flavors continue to dominate food and beverage innovation, with cereal milk emerging as a favorite across desserts, coffee drinks and frozen treats.

Fruity Cereal Crunch features Mini Melts’ first-ever cereal milk-flavored ice cream beads, blended with crunchy fruity cereal flakes for a playful combination of creamy sweetness and satisfying crunch in every bite.

Amazing Ice Cream introduced Sweet’zza, a 9-inch artisanal pizza ice cream. There are eight slices per pie. Varieties are Mango, Pistachio Cream and Strawberry. 

Alden’s Organic expanded its frozen novelties range with the launch of two new global-inspired bars. The new Global Delights collection aims to meet this demand by bringing bold, internationally inspired profiles to the freezer aisle. 

 

The range includes Mango Chamoy Twist Bars, made with organic mango ice cream and swirled with tangy chamoy, a Mexican pickled-fruit and chili condiment. It provides a sweet, salty, sour and spicy bite.

Thai Tea Swirl Bars were inspired by the smooth, aromatic Thai street-tea tradition. The bars blend Thai tea sorbet with a rich dairy swirl, designed to provide an indulgent take on the Southeast Asian beverage.

  

Perry’s Ice Cream debuted three one-of-a-kind exclusive scoop shop flavors. Prickly Pear Lime takes your taste buds on a tropical getaway where sweet prickly pear meets zesty lime in one refreshing, fun escape. Tropical Chili Lime is a blend of pineapple and coconut with flakes of tangy chili lime. Dairy-Free Cherry Chip Oats Cream features a combination of cherry-flavored frozen dessert and rich fudge flakes.

 

Graeter’s Ice Cream, America’s oldest family-owned and operated craft ice cream maker, has always been about experience. From its signature French Pot process, where the ice cream is handcrafted in small batches--just 2.5 gallons at a time—to its limited-edition bonus flavors dropped multiple times a year, Graeter’s aims to make consumers happy. 

The company’s limited-edition summer line-up was “crafted to capture the whimsy of this season in every scoop.” Marrakesh Coffee is bold coffee ice cream spiced with cardamom, cinnamon and ginger. Ghost Notes celebrates adventure park Kings Island’s new ride, Phantom Theater: Opening Nightmare. The flavor is as mischievous and unexpected as the ride itself: marshmallow and grape ice cream combined with marshmallow cookie dough.  Peanut Butter & Clouds is rich peanut butter ice cream with fluffy marshmallow pieces folded throughout. Cherry Sparkler was crafted to celebrate the nation’s 250th birthday. This wild cherry ice cream contains red and blue popping candy folded into every star-spangled scoop. Strawberry Sorbet, which will come out in late July, is made with real strawberries picked at peak ripeness from Pacific Northwest farms.

“Ice cream has always been a quintessential part of summer, bringing people together through joyful moments,” said Richard Graeter, fourth-generation president and CEO. “Our five new limited-edition flavors are meant to capture those moments big and small and make summer sweeter and last just a little bit longer.”

Remember, ice cream innovation is an all-year opportunity. Hope this roundup provides flavor inspiration. 

What Matters to Gen Z and Why it Matters to Your Brand

 

 

This product screams Gen Z. Level of processing is irrelevant. This is why defining ultra-processed food will likely have no impact on Gen Z. Social media matters more.  

 

Philadelphia Cream Cheese and Ziggi’s Coffee collaborated to reimagine the morning routine with a creamy new beverage. The Philadelphia Everything Bagel Latte combines Ziggi’s fan-favorite iced latte with Philadelphia cream cheese cold foam and everything bagel seasoning for a bold new take on a beloved breakfast pairing. The limited-time beverage is available at participating Ziggi’s Coffee locations nationwide from Aug. 11 to 17, while supplies last.

“As food and beverage marketers build their 2027 plans, one thing is becoming increasingly clear: the old playbook for influencing Gen Z is losing effectiveness,” according to my friend Eric Davis, vice president of food and beverage, MorganMyers, a G&S Agency.

The Summer 2026 MorganMyers Food Pulse found that social media remains one of the most powerful drivers of food and beverage discovery, but trust is shifting away from celebrity influencers and toward authentic creators, experts and everyday consumers.

The implication for food brands is significant. Success in 2027 will not come from simply showing up in feeds. It will come from earning recommendations from people Gen Z consumers already trust.
But first, I digress. Let’s explore how we got here. 

Millennials were raised on Starbucks--served just the way they liked it--by their Boomer parents. Millennials got what they wanted, the way they wanted it, and this continues to fuel their food choices. They are the generation backing Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) and the ones who want ultra-processed foods defined. And rightfully so, as many Millennials grew up in a health environment shaped by decades of misinformation and Happy Meals, when the only beverage option was a soft drink. Milk was not offered! We’ve come a long way.  

“This legacy left them with confusion, guilt and poor health outcomes, especially among women. The MAHA movement’s focus on ultra-processed foods, environmental toxins, over-medicalization and sedentary lifestyles resonates deeply with Millennials’ lived experience,” according to Wellbeing Magazine. These women are moms now and want answers and direction. 

Their predecessors are Gen X. That’s me. We drank water out of a hose lying on the ground. We were the “latch-key” generation that started cooking as teenagers as soon as their home was equipped with a microwave. With both parents often working, family dinners were simple and easy to prepare, using pantry staples like canned soups, boxed mixes and frozen foods. Ultra-processed foods were a necessity. They also were something we grew out of when “eatertainment” emerged.  

Gen X believes there’s a time and a place for ultra-processed foods. It’s junk food—empty calories—that the TAB generation tries to avoid. 

Let’s move on to Gen Z, who today range in age from 14 to 29 years old. These teens, young adults and low-on-the-totem pole professionals, pride themselves on being foodies.

The first Chipotle opened its doors in 1993, four years before Gen Z entered this world. Fresh, customized, quick-service foods played a bigger role than Happy Meals at a young age for Gen Z. Many have never had a Twinkie. Their Gen X parents taught them about junk food and empty calories. Their sippy cups had water, not juice. 

Gen Z has a taste-first mindset, according to Tastewise, with flavor influencing food choices more than health, with bold, unique and indulgent flavors scaling rapidly. If these foods are ultra-processed, so be it. Defining ultra-processed food will likely have no impact on Gen Z.  

Nearly three-quarters (73%) of Gen Z consumers say they have repeatedly purchased a food or beverage product they first discovered on social media, according to Summer 2026 MorganMyers Food Pulse. Yet when it comes to what actually influences purchase decisions, personal recommendations consistently outrank influencer endorsements. The brands best positioned for growth will build strategies that combine social visibility with credibility, product quality and shareable consumer experiences.

The research points to a critical distinction for marketers: social media can create the first purchase, but taste, value and quality determine whether there is a second.

When asked what most determines whether they purchase a food or beverage product, respondents ranked price and value first at 27%, narrowly ahead of taste at 26%. Recommendations from someone they trust followed at 17%, while health and nutrition benefits ranked at 13%. 

After the first purchase, product fundamentals matter even more. Sixty-eight percent identify taste as one of the leading reasons they buy a product again, followed by price and value at 61% and quality at 44%. Social media buzz ranked at just 3%.

Explore more results from the Summer 2026 MorganMyers Food Pulse survey by linking HERE.

New Food Policies are on the Horizon. Here’s What We Know.

Honey plays a central role in building flavor and functionality in new Bezi Hot Honey Labneh. The honey-forward innovation is making its debut in the natural and specialty foods space. It is a thick, tangy and creamy Middle Eastern “yogurt cheese” made by straining whey from yogurt until it reaches a rich, spreadable, cream cheese-like consistency. 

The National Honey Board interviewed Bezi co-founder and CEO Ilay Karateke to talk about what inspired the product and how honey plays a central role in it. Read the interview HERE.

 

 

U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. will host a major food policy event this Monday, August 10, 2026, to recognize a series of landmark actions to improve the nation’s food supply and advance the Make America Healthy Again (MAHA) agenda. The event will include an announcement of two major new food policy actions. 

Your guess is as good as mine. Media will receive the embargoed information a few hours earlier than it is announced at the event. I’m on pins and needles. 

 

 

But…here’s what we do know about the evolving consumer, according to the recently released 2026 International Food Information Council (IFIC) Food & Health Survey. For the first time in the two-decade history of the survey, convenience has surpassed healthfulness as a driver of Americans’ food and beverage decisions, a milestone that signals just how much the everyday calculus of eating may be changing. 

What does this means for dairy processors? Convenience is key! Healthfulness is a plus! We got this.

The 2026 IFIC findings arrive amid a fast-moving food environment—shaped by economic pressure, a rapidly shifting information landscape and the growing influence of the MAHA movement—that is reframing how Americans define “healthy” food, with high familiarity of the new Food Pyramid and terms like “ultraprocessed foods.”

“Every year the IFIC Food & Health Survey gives us a read on where Americans truly are, and what we see is a meaningful shift in how people view their food and make decisions,” said Wendy Reinhardt Kapsak, president and CEO of IFIC. “In 2026, we find a public whose definition of ‘healthy’ is expanding beyond nutrition. Fresh, natural, the presence or absence of ingredients, as well as how much a food has been processed have all risen in prominence.”

Reported familiarity to the new Food Pyramid was high within three months of its introduction, with 83% of Americans saying they have seen it. This exceeds reported awareness of MyPlate in both 2024 (76%) and 2025 (77%), representing significant increases of seven and six percentage points, respectively. These results suggest that the new Food Pyramid has achieved substantial early visibility among Americans, surpassing recent reported awareness of MyPlate. While encouraging, awareness of the national dietary guidance symbol should not be conflated with knowledge and understanding, use, improved diet quality and/or adherence to its corresponding dietary guidance recommendations.

The ease of maintaining a new dietary habit varies substantially depending on the action or behavior attempted. Among Americans who made an effort to consume dairy in the past year, 87% say doing so consistently was easy, making it the highest-rated behavior on ease. This was followed by more than three in four who said it was easy for them to focus on whole grains (80%), eat vegetables and fruits throughout the day (79%), eat real food (79%), prioritize protein at every meal (78%) and incorporate healthy fats (76%). 

Other actions or behaviors were less often described as easy to consistently maintain. Around six in 10 say it was easy for them to eat the right amount (66%), limit highly processed foods (62%), limit added sugars (60%) and limit refined carbohydrates (58%). The pattern suggests that inclusive dietary actions may be easier to sustain than those requiring restriction.

When asked which dietary guidance-related effort taken in the past year had the greatest perceived impact on their health, Americans most often say eating vegetables and fruits throughout the day (19%). Eating the right amount and eating real food followed closely, each cited by 16%, while 13% say limiting added sugars had the greatest impact.

The prevalence of processing as a food purchasing factor remains high among Americans. Overall, 73% say they take processing into account before buying food, a significant drop from 80% in 2025. Responses vary when it comes to how the consideration of processing affects consumption. While 13% say they always avoid processed foods, 41% say they sometimes do, indicating that processing is a consideration for many Americans yet not necessarily an exclusion criterion. The other 19% who consider whether a food is processed prior to purchase say they do not avoid processed foods, suggesting that recognition of processing does not always translate into avoidance. About one in four Americans (24%) say they do not consider processing when buying food, and 3% are unsure what qualifies as a processed food. Taken together, the findings suggest that food processing is widely considered at the point of purchase, yet its influence on purchasing decisions and consumption is not uniform.

Processing of ingredients may be gaining more importance, as consumers understand food must be processed, but not all the ingredients that go into the food need to be ultraprocessed. That’s where honey as a sweetener comes into play. 

Honey is a clean-label, natural sweetener that gives consumers permission to satisfy their sweet tooth. According to the United States Department of Agriculture (USDA) Economic Research Service’s Sugar and Sweeteners Yearbook Tables, U.S. consumption of honey and made-with-honey products reached an all-time high of 688.6 million pounds in 2024, surpassing 2021’s previous record of 618 million pounds. The data also highlights a record per capita consumption increase of approximately 25% from 1.6 pounds to a record 2 pounds, between 2023 and 2024.

Over a 30-year period, U.S. demand for honey and honey-sweetened products has continued to trend upward due to its classification as a superfood that benefits overall health and well-being, as well as being perceived as a healthier alternative to table sugar.

"The results of this study are a testament to American consumers’ increased awareness of honey’s benefits,” said Margaret Lombard, CEO, National Honey Board. “Steadily, over time, honey has become the preferred sweetener for many because it’s an all-natural, minimally processed sweetener. When you choose honey, you are not only supporting a beekeeper but the entire honey bee population that protects and pollinates our food ecosystem.”

These findings align with the National Honey Board’s U.S. Honey Consumer Attitudes & Usage study, which found that honey is the most used sweetener across lunch, dinner and snack times. Consumers report preferring honey for its all-natural health benefits, in addition to flavor. Honey helps keep dairy clear, clean and nutritionally dense.

Oh, and by the way, hot honey continues to gain traction in all food development. It works great in dairy!