With ‘shackles off’ after Unilever split, Magnum Ice Cream takes new approach to innovation
More than six months after its separation from Unilever, The Magnum Ice Cream Company is turning up the heat on innovating its portfolio of frozen treats.
The ice cream producer, with more than $9 billion in annual revenue, is digging into its portfolio of iconic brands, including Talenti and Ben & Jerry’s. The goal is to identify new formats and occasions, such as snacking, to increase the likelihood that its novelties could be eaten by a consumer inundated with choice.
Simply launching a new flavor is no longer “exciting enough on the shelf to stand out,” admitted Briana Bennett, head of ice cream research and development in North America for Magnum.
“This momentous shift really started as we announced that we’re going to be an independent company,” she said. “You kind of take the shackles off and think differently in terms of how you look at the brands, how you look at your occasions. The decision-making is much more streamlined.”
Unilever spun off Magnum in late 2025, creating the world’s biggest company focused only on ice cream in a segment valued at more than $19 billion in the U.S, according to Mintel.
Following the divestiture, Magnum began shifting its mindset to view ice cream as a snacking option instead of just a frozen treat, Bennett said. This has led the company to look for additional opportunities where its ice cream can be positioned, pitting it against more traditional options such as bars, chips and crackers.
“It was a complete shift in terms of how we approached it, and so it’s almost like leaving something on the table in terms of what opportunities exist once you open the world up to snacking versus just ice cream,” she said. “It can’t just be that end-of-the-day treat that ice cream is, and we know to grow we have to be in these different moments.”
Magnum’s expansive portfolio gives the company options to choose from as it brings its novelties into new consumption categories or taps into popular trends.
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Courtesy of The Magnum Ice Cream Company
Recently, Magnum extended Ben and Jerry’s into bars, bringing the late-night couch indulgence to a portable format and increasing its competitiveness with other foods people often turn to, such as candy bars. It also allowed Ben and Jerry’s to offer a portion-controlled option for the health-conscious shoppers.
Not every brand is ideally suited for a new area, and stretching a product into a space where it’s not compatible risks confusing consumers and hurting sales. Magnum never seriously considered a low-sugar version of Ben & Jerry’s, which is viewed as an indulgent treat, Bennett said.
“That’s very much the beauty of the brands that we have across the portfolio. They all have a very distinct role,” she said. “We can be very intentional about how we use our brands and how we innovate with our brands, because we have so many of them.”
Magnum’s push to broaden the reach of its frozen treats goes beyond snacking.
In addition to debuting smaller options like sandwiches and bites for Yasso, it has brought the yogurt bar brand into pints for the first time. The spoonable container enables Yasso to give consumers the end-of-the-day couch-eating experience while maintaining the low-calorie and protein levels the brand is known for in the market.
In some cases, Magnum carries successful ideas or flavors in one brand and applies them to another. It recently brought its Good Humor Strawberry Shortcake and Creamsicle bar flavors into scoopable Breyers pints.
Still, Magnum can face challenges in bringing a brand into new spaces. In the case of Yasso, the company needs to consider how a new ingredient, such as almond butter, will impact the calorie count.
For innovation across all of its portfolio, Magnum needs to determine if it has the necessary technology, equipment and processes to make the new product. With chocolate, for example, what’s used in a pint of ice cream or higher caloric option is typically different than what is found in an ice cream bar or lighter caloric version. This typically necessitates a change to the ingredient mix and equipment, which takes time and money.
To increase an innovation’s speed to market and likelihood of success, Magnum is incorporating artificial intelligence and software to help the company refine its ideas. The company is also regularly combing through research history from its other brands for inspiration to see what worked or where a previous idea could be tweaked to be successful in a different product for today’s market.
“We have a wealth of data already. We’ve already done lots of tests in different areas and different claim spaces, and that helps us to move faster,” Bennett said. “One of our big priorities as a business is about meeting consumers where they are.”
