News

Magnum targets ice cream lovers’ moods with new flavours

Unilever-owned Magnum has released a suite of “mood-inspired flavours” as the 2024 ice cream season kicks off. The offerings, marketed as the Magnum Pleasure Express, are Magnum's first foray into the “mood-food” category.

Magnum's new flavours are explicitly linked to a trio of moods - happiness (Magnum Euphoria, containing lemon, raspberry sorbet, white chocolate, and popping candy); wonder (with chocolate, molasses, caramel, and toffee); and chill (a vegan ice cream with vanilla-biscuit flavour, blueberry sorbet, crunchy cookie pieces, and vegan chocolate). The ingredients Magnum has selected for its flavour innovation are selected to ensure a “new sensation with every bite”. The Magnums will be available individually and in multipacks of three or six minis.

Mood-food trend drives innovation and marketing

As reported in Fi Global Insights, recent scientific research from the emerging field of nutrition psychiatry has demonstrated that food can positively affect our mood. This includes a growing body of research on the gut-brain axis, covering the communication between the gut and the brain via neurotransmitters using chemical pathways.

Manufacturers and brands are increasingly using the mood-food and gut health trends in their product development, formulation, and marketing. According to patent activity data tracked by Mintel between the years 2011 and 2020, the number of patents for food products that affect mood, emotional well-being, and cognitive health has increased significantly in recent years. One popular way that packaged food products have incorporated the findings is by reformulating existing products by either adding ingredients that are known to have positive effects on mood and cognition, or by removing foods that are associated with negative mood impacts.

Magnum is not the first ice cream manufacturer or large player in the space to wade into the 'foods for good mood' category. As early as 2002, the Scottish ice cream manufacturer Mackie’s launched an ice cream product low in calories containing native Alaskan orchid, an ingredient that was claimed to boost consumers’ mood and make them happy. The trend has also attracted interest from companies such as Mondelez, which invested in prebiotic brand and “psyobiotic” dietary supplement producer Uplift Foods; and Magnum’s parent company Unilever itself teamed up with biotechnology company Holobiome in 2022 to conduct research on the gut-brain axis.

Unilever spins off its ice cream business

Magnum’s moody trio of flavours might be among the last few products that are launched by the brand under the Unilever umbrella. In March 2024, the parent company announced that the ice cream division would be spun off as a standalone business, with the separation planned to be concluded by the end of 2025.

The move was explained by Unilever as part of its Growth Acceleration Plan (GAP) – initiated in October 2023 – which aims to make the company more streamlined and focused. Under the GAP, Unilever will operate four business groups: Personal Care, Home care, Beauty & Wellbeing, and Nutrition. The ice cream business includes brands such as Ben & Jerry’s and Wall’s in addition to Magnum, which jointly registered a turnover of €7.9 billion in 2023.