Ice cream men across the country have been cashing in on this year’s endless procession of heatwaves by charging up to £7 for classic 99s.
Punters have blasted the ‘extortionate’ prices at kiosks, cafes and ice cream vans – while industry figures blame the hikes on more expensive cream.
With ice cream sales rocketing to £120million in June this year – almost double last year’s figure – one might have expected vendors at least to keep prices steady.
But one ice cream van man flogging Mr Whippy cones for up to £6.50 admitted: ‘We’ve all put our prices up this year.’
This means a family-of-four must now fork out up to £26 for a round of ice creams – with even the humble Fruit Pastille lolly coming in at almost a fiver.
The Daily Mail ventured out on a 28C day in July to see the damage firsthand, and find out how the people of London reflect on the ballooning price of a soft-serve cone.
King of the kiosks in the capital’s Royal Parks is Colicci – an ice cream empire built up by Ernie Colicci after he moved over from Italy in the early 1980s.
In Hyde Park, they run six permanent stations selling coffees, cakes, sandwiches and soft drinks, alongside ice cream – and three vintage ice cream trucks during the summer.
This family from Canada decided to share just one ice cream between the three of them
Barry Mason, 84, said he had seen the price of ice cream rise considerably over his life time
Punters buying ice creams from the vans on Exhibition Road can pay more for a flake and sauces
The cheapest Mr Whippy option from the Colicci kiosks in the Royal Parks has rised to £3.70 for a single scoop and no flake
One young woman strolling by The Serpentine lake pleaded with her parents to get a round of ice creams – but after seeing the prices, the trio bought just one 99 between them.
The mother said: ‘We’re from Canada and we get ice cream a lot, but it seems a little more expensive here.
‘We paid more than £4 for a single scoop with a flake. That’s about the same figure as we’d pay in Canadian dollars back home, but the conversion rate is about half.’
Husband and wife Pete, 75, and Di, 76, had travelled to London for the day from Reading to make the most of the warm weather.
After scanning the menu at the Triangle kiosk by the North Serpentine Gallery, they went for packaged options instead – a Solero for her and a classic Magnum for him – but still found themselves paying top whack.
Di told the Mail: ‘It’s absolutely extortionate, isn’t it. You could get four from a supermarket for the same price. These are around a pound from a shop, but we’ve just paid £8 for two.
‘But it’s what we expect from London, and it’s not just ice cream – everything is going up.
‘You’ve also got to wonder how much they are paying to run this kiosk in such a prime spot.’
Daily Mail reporter Patrick Harrington samples a double scoop with a flake from a kiosk in Hyde Park
A single scoop of Mr Whippy-style ice cream in a cone consistently costs more than £4 from central London vans
The most expensive ice cream sold in a cone from the Royal Park kiosks is a double scoop of gelato at £6.10
With a monopoly over the refreshments provision in the parks, there is little incentive for Colicci to lower prices and beat competition.
Anna, 25, who works in one of the kiosks, admitted that punters are sometimes discouraged by the prices.
She said: ‘Sometimes they walk over looking as if they want an ice cream, but then change their minds after seeing the prices.
‘Especially with the gelato – that’s £6.10 for a double scoop. I once made one for a customer and handed it to her, but when she heard the price she said: “You can keep it.” So I was left standing there with a gelato.’
While the gelato is only sold from two of the kiosks, most are stocked with another premium option: Nutella waffle sundaes.
These deluxe offerings will set you back more than £7 but, according to Anna, are better value than the standard scoops.
The beating heart of the UK’s industry, however, is undoubtedly the iconic ice cream van.
Perpendicular to the park, Exhibition Road boasts such attractions as the Science Museum and the V&A, and throngs with people on any given summer day. Cue three ice cream vans rolling up to the same 200metre stretch.
This menu on a van parked up on Exhibition Road lists the prices on stickers, meaning they can be changed at whim
Rosie Braga (second from right), 42, said he ice cream tasted ‘like medicine’ and that she would not buy one again
Keith on holiday from America with his two children paid £17 for three ice creams, but said he wasn’t too concerned about the price because they were on holiday
Operators of these mobile stores are free to price their products as high as they like – and many list the prices using stickers or wipe-clean pens, allowing them to tweak the figures at whim.
Rosie Braga, 42, on holiday as a family of four, was deeply unimpressed with her haul.
She said: ‘For our four ice creams from the van it cost nearly £26 – which is far too much. But for me, it’s not just about the price – it’s also the quality.
‘I’m from Italy, and the stuff over here tastes disgusting. It’s like I’m eating medicine. It tastes so industrial – you can easily tell it’s from a machine.
‘At this price, I definitely wouldn’t buy it again.’
Keith, who had just dropped £17 on three ice creams for himself and his two children, said he ‘wasn’t too concerned by the price’ because they were on holiday.
Meanwhile Barry Mason, 84, over from the States, said he had been an ice cream lover for eight decades, and had been dismayed to see the prices climb so high.
In defence of the soaring prices, industry organisation the Ice Cream Alliance (ICA) has cited various inflationary cost pressures that operators across the UK are having to pass onto consumers.
ICA director of operations Catherine McNeil told the Daily Mail: ‘Like many industries, the ice cream sector has faced significant cost pressures over the past decade.
‘From the ingredients that go into the ice cream to the fuel that keeps the vans moving, almost every part of serving a 99 has become more expensive.’
The Ice Cream Alliance (ICA) said the inflation of various ingredients was forcing operators to pass on costs to consumers
Most people who spoke to the Daily Mail said they would only buy ice creams when out and about as a special treat
A father buys a Mr Whippy with a flake – though insisted between licks it was ‘more for the baby’ than himself
| Rank | Beach location | Region | County | Price of one scoop cone | Price of two scoop cone |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| 1 | Porthmadog | Wales | Gwynedd | £3.85 | £5.28 |
| 2 | Brighton | South East | East Sussex | £3.71 | £5.96 |
| 3 | New Brighton | North West | Merseyside | £3.70 | £4.70 |
| 4 | Aberystwyth | Wales | Ceredigion | £3.65 | £5.05 |
| 5 | Bournemouth | South West | Dorset | £3.57 | £5.22 |
| 6 | Salcombe | South West | Devon | £3.50 | £5.25 |
| 7 | Whitstable | South East | Kent | £3.38 | £5.00 |
| 8 | Tenby | Wales | Pembrokeshire | £3.33 | £4.83 |
| 8 | Padstow | South West | Cornwall | £3.33 | £4.83 |
| 9 | Margate | South East | Kent | £3.25 | £4.98 |
| Analysis by credit card company Zable | |||||
She explained that dairy and ingredient prices have risen in price ‘substantially’, with milk, cream and sugar all affected by inflation and changing global demand.
Key ingredients such as vanilla, cocoa and coconut which are sourced from abroad, have gone up too, leaving businesses vulnerable to supply chain disruptions.
Ms McNeil continued: ‘Energy and fuel costs have also increased. Ice cream vans rely on constant refrigeration to keep products at the right temperature, while operators need to travel regularly between pitches and events.
‘Add rising diesel and electricity prices into the mix, and the cost of keeping an ice cream van on the road quickly adds up.’
Despite the cost of a 99 being 99p in the 1990s, the name of the ice cream has nothing to do with the price.
The origins of the name are uncertain but Cadbury’s launched a shorter version of its Flake bar in 1930 called a ‘Flake 99’ for the ice cream trade.
Others cite how a shopkeeper at 99 Portobello High Street in Edinburgh would break a large Flake in half and put it in an ice cream in the 1920s, giving it its name from the shop number.
Another theory is that the Italian monarchy had an elite royal guard of 99 soldiers, making ’99’ a term for something of exceptional quality – and the ice cream was therefore named the ‘Flake 99′ or ’99 Flake’ to appeal to Italian ice cream vendors.
A spokesperson for Colicci said: ‘Colicci have partnered with The Royal Parks for over three decades and we pride ourselves on quality. Colicci are a London Living Wage employer and our operation spans across seven of The Royal Parks as well as other treasured park and garden locations across the Capital.
‘Our signature soft serve ice cream is a family recipe using premium Jersey cream. While we refuse to compromise on the quality of our products we prioritise affordability and inclusivity as we welcome thousands, if not millions of families to these coveted green spaces each year.
‘Our prices are consistently benchmarked alongside relevant market brands and we ensure that our ranges meet all demographics; this is completed in conjunction with our partners and reviewed annually.
‘Our sales are commissionable and support The Royal Parks and other partners with the excellent stewardship, development and necessary maintenance of these historic and natural landscapes.’
Ice cream in Britain began as a delicacy reserved only for the extremely wealthy – and was first experienced at Windsor Castle in a royal banquet back in 1671, where they enjoyed ‘one plate of white strawberries and one plate of iced cream’.
The first record in Europe comes from the handwritten notes of Lady Anne Fanshawe in 1665, whose husband was King Charles’ ambassador in Spain.
But the recipe for ‘Icy Cream’ would never have worked – she didn’t include the need to add salt to the ice around the creamy mixture, that makes the frozen liquid even colder.
To keep the ice needed to churn the delicacy, originally it was cut from ponds and canals in the winter before being stored under canals.
The huge amount of effort needed to do this kept the dessert cold meant that it remained exclusively for the rich until the mid-19th century – when ice-cream icon Carlo Gatti started selling penny licks – named for their price – at a stall in Charing Cross.
Italy lead the way with ice cream production in Europe, and immigrants driven away from their homeland brought the delicacy with them.
The first ice cream bikes were introduced by Walls in London in 1923 – with Cecil Rodd coming up with the iconic phrase ‘stop me and buy one’.
