Halo Top enters baking mix category

Dive Brief:

• Halo Top entered the baking mix category with a line of products including microwaveable cake cups in Chocolate, Strawberry and Birthday Cake flavors, Fudge Brownie mix and Peanut Butter Chocolate Chip Cookie mix. The new products mark the first foray outside of ice cream for the brand.
• The treats, which the company said each contain one-third fewer calories than leading baking mixes, will be manufactured by General Mills.
• The move comes as Halo Top’s ice cream sales saw a 10% year-over-year decline in 2022, according to data from market research firm IRI. By entering a new category, the company has the potential to garner new streams of revenue and solidify its standing outside of just ice cream.

Dive Insight:

The new launch brings Halo Top, a leader in the better-for-you ice cream space, into a wider category of desserts targeted toward consumers looking for a healthier alternative to leading brands.

“Halo Top was founded on an idea to make a lower calorie ice cream that doesn’t sacrifice flavor and indulgence,” its brand manager Peter Gargula said in the press release. “We’ve been constantly innovating products to give consumers indulgence they can feel good about.”

Its move into baked goods comes nearly a year after it changed the recipe of its ice cream products amid a decline in sales and increased competition from other low-calorie competitors. Its ice cream products now contain ultra-filtered milk with concentrated protein, which the company says creates a creamier texture.

After debuting in the early 2010s, Halo Top saw meteoric viral success after 2015 because of its image as a healthier alternative with unique, fun packaging. Quickly, competitors seized on its success. By 2017, large ice cream brands like Breyers debuted lower-calorie options.

Despite its reformulation, Halo Top has seen five continuous years of sliding sales. According to IRI, dollar sales at the brand’s summit in 2017 were $377 million, compared to nearly $190 million last year — a roughly 50% decrease.

Halo Top is owned by Wells Enterprises, the ice cream giant that is in the process of being purchased by Ferrero.

After booming during the start of the pandemic, baking at home has maintained popularity. According to an American Bakers Association survey released last September, 64% of consumers said they make room for occasional baked desserts, and an average of 68% of meals that include baked goods are prepared at home.