After reformulating ice cream for warmer freezers, Unilever shares secrets with rivals

Unilever has unveiled that it will grant a free, non-exclusive license for 12 reformulation patents to its competitors in the ice cream industry. The offer follows two successful pilot programs allowing ice cream freezer cabinets to warm up from -18°C to -12°C without impacting the product's taste or mouthfeel.

Traditionally, retailers store ice cream at a frigid -18°C. Aiming to reduce energy consumption, Unilever has been working on new recipes that tolerate higher temperatures. Research at Unilever's Colworth R&D center was followed by pilots in Germany that proved its reformulated ice cream can remain stable at a warmer temperature of -12°C without compromising a consumer's experience.

Moving the temperature dial to 6°C warmer produces an energy reduction of approximately 20–30% in the cold chain. Unilever owns and maintains 3 million ice cream freezers in stores worldwide, and they account for a whopping 10% of its value chain footprint. In addition to adopting the new formula — and accompanying energy savings — for its own products, Unilever just announced it will share its patented reformulation recipes with industry peers.