With spring in full bloom and summer in sight, South African ice cream and frozen dessert producers are experiencing their busiest and most competitive season of the year.
As demand rises, the challenge is no longer just about creating new flavours, it’s about maintaining consistency at scale, catering to diverse tastes and optimising production to stay profitable in a tightening economy and responding quickly to shifting consumer trends
‘South African consumers are adventurous with flavour, but increasingly they are becoming much more discerning about quality,’ says Klaus Plenge, managing director for Southern Africa at global food processing and packaging leader Tetra Pak. ‘There’s growing interest in how ice cream and frozen desserts are made, what they contain and not just what they taste like.’
Best known locally for its liquid board packaging, Tetra Pak is also a global leader in frozen dessert production, offering end-to-end solutions from mix preparation to freezing, moulding, extrusion, soft serve production and packaging. These capabilities support both dairy and plant-based manufacturers in delivering the quality, consistency and innovation consumers demand.
Klaus highlights key trends driving success in ice cream production and shaping the industry:
Consistency builds trust
In a category where margins are tight and premium ingredients such as chocolate coatings and inclusions come at a cost, inconsistency can quickly erode profitability. Variation in weight, texture or aeration is one of the most persistent challenges for local producers and consumers notice. ‘Every stick, cone, tub or soft serve needs to deliver the same experience each time,’ says Klaus. Without precise control during freezing, even minor fluctuations in pressure can result in overfills, underweight products or compromised quality, all of which undermine trust and eat into margins.
Ingredient innovation
The appetite for more indulgent and adventurous ice creams is driving demand for equipment that can handle a broader range of inclusions from fragile flakes to large, sticky cookie pieces while ensuring even distribution. Advances in ingredient dosing and freezing systems are giving producers the freedom to experiment with premium formats and more complex recipes, without sacrificing consistency or efficiency.
Format flexibility
With consumers seeking novelty formats, dairy-free options and multi-flavour combinations, flexibility has become a strategic advantage. Rotary and inline moulding systems, combined with cold filling techniques, enable intricate shapes and layered products while improving capacity and reducing ingredient use. Extrusion technology, such as tray tunnel systems for shaping, filling, decorating and hardening further broadens the creative possibilities.
Reshaping product development
One of the most dynamic shifts is the move beyond traditional dairy bases. Plant-based options such as oat, almond and fava beans are finding their way into frozen desserts, with fava beans in particular standing out for their mild flavour and nutritional value. This innovation is spilling over into other categories, from flavoured milks to functional health products, as producers explore recipes that combine indulgence with nutrition and sustainability.
The next wave of growth in South Africa’s frozen dessert market will come from those who balance creative ambition with operational precision. ‘The market rewards consistency, innovation and speed to market,’ says Klaus. ‘The producers who can deliver on all three will define the future of the category.’
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