Changing Consumer Habits Are Reshaping the Ice-Cream Industry
A survey recorded changes in the habits that shape demand for ice-cream. Over the previous year, 52.8% of respondents had reduced their sugar consumption, while 40% had increased their protein intake. Asked about functional ice-creams, 87.1% said they would try such a product or might replace their current choice with one.
Demand for higher-end products was also reported. During the six months before the survey, 57.2% of participants had tried or bought premium or gourmet ice-creams. Consumers continued to associate quality with sensory characteristics: 64.8% linked it to creaminess and 61.4% to an intense flavour.
In Minas Gerais, figures from Brazil’s RAIS/MTE employment registry for 2025 counted 484 ice-cream manufacturers. They employed 3,243 people formally and generated an annual wage bill of 85.6m reais. Wander Bertolace de Carvalho, president of the Sindisorvete MG industry association, said that micro and small businesses accounted for 97% of the state’s sector, with most being family-owned. He said some companies had operated for 30, 40, 50 or as many as 70 years.
Employment data for early 2026 differed between Minas Gerais and Brazil as a whole. The state’s ice-cream segment recorded a net increase of 51 formal jobs in the first quarter, while the national figure showed a reduction of 181 positions over the same period.
Manufacturers have changed products and processes alongside consumer demand. Francisco Melo, a director at Easyice, said suppliers were offering a wider selection of flavours and textures and that equipment makers had developed machines with lower energy use and higher productivity. Easyice, which began as an ice-cream shop in Belo Horizonte’s Savassi district in 1996, moved towards industrial production in the 2010s and now serves Minas Gerais, São Paulo, the Federal District and Espírito Santo.
Easyice has added flavours, formats and functional features, including ice-creams and açaí products without added sugar and chocolate-coated fruit. The company has also expanded its use of regional flavours, natural ingredients, artisanal characteristics and premium paper tubs. To combine industrial scale with artisanal features, it created the term “arterial”, joining the Portuguese words for artisanal and industrial.
Companies continue to report operational constraints. Melo identified the tax burden and the difficulty of hiring and retaining employees among the main challenges. Seasonal demand can fall by as much as 70% in May, June and July; during that period, firms use time for holidays, maintenance and preparing stocks for the summer. Easyice is automating its filling lines and using artificial intelligence for administrative work.
International sales have also become part of the sector’s activity. In the first quarter of 2026, ice-creams and ice-cream preparations were Brazil’s leading exported product within the dairy industry, with overseas sales of $14m. In the first half of the year, ice-creams represented 37.0% of Brazil’s dairy-industry exports, according to FIEMG. Juliana Gagliardi, an economist at the federation, said the export value was more than four times higher than the value of imports.
