Make Every Bite Count: Maximizing Ice Cream Real Estate

PROMOTIONAL FEATURE

Marketing is the lifeblood of the fast-moving consumer goods (FMCG) industry—and ice cream is no exception. In 2024, Häagen-Dazs dedicated $41.5 million to advertising, while Wall’s recently launched its most ambitious £10 million masterbrand campaign. Dreyer’s Grand Ice Cream, part of Froneri International, spent more than $100 million across digital, print, and TV just last year.

With so many brands competing for freezer space and consumer attention, standing out requires both investment and creativity. Yet, even with these substantial budgets, the challenge remains: how can brands engage consumers at the exact moment of purchase and consumption?

Omnichannel strategies are proving to be the answer. Brands with strong omnichannel engagement retain an average 89% of their customers, compared to just 33% for those with weak strategies. And at the heart of this bridge between offline and online lies one of today’s simplest but most powerful tools: the QR code.

With 7.2 billion smartphones in use worldwide and mobile devices driving 65% of e-commerce traffic, QR codes are already reshaping consumer interactions. In China alone, 90% of mobile payments rely on QR technology, while in the U.S., over 100 million people are expected to be scanning QR codes by 2025. For ice cream brands, this represents an untapped opportunity to extend the consumer journey right from the stick in their hand to the endless digital world.

That’s why we’re excited to share a brand-new innovation from smart wood: laser-printed QR codes on ice cream sticks.

Turning Sticks into Digital Touchpoints

smart wood has developed a safe, sustainable, and practical way to add QR codes directly to ice cream sticks. Because they’re laser-printed (not inked), they ensure food safety and durability. Plus, placing them inside the ice cream keeps the code visible and easy to scan after every bite is gone.

“For the first time, your ice cream stick can become more than a functional tool; it can be an interactive marketing touchpoint,” explains Vladimir Negrut, R&D Engineer at smart wood and smart break.

“Instead of just holding a treat, your stick becomes a direct connection to your marketing, campaigns, and customer loyalty—maximizing the value of every single piece. It’s an amazing way to make your stick work hard for your brand!”

How QR Codes Elevate the Ice Cream Experience

Adding a QR code to your ice cream stick does more than add visual appeal. “It unlocks a direct line to your consumer at the very moment of enjoyment,” explains Melissa Satohan, EMEA Key Account Manager at smart wood and smart break.“From building stronger brand connections to driving measurable engagement, QR codes transform your stick into a powerful marketing tool. In fact, they deliver three distinct benefits for your brand.”

1. They Differentiate Your Brand

Ice cream is a competitive space, and packaging real estate is limited. Adding a QR code on the stick itself offers a subtle yet powerful way to capture attention. Smartphone users touch their phones an average of 2,617 times a day in the U.S., with frequent users exceeding 5,000 interactions daily. Following the U.S., the UK has the second-highest smartphone penetration rate worldwide, with 79.8% of the population using smartphones. A quick scan is now second nature.

QR codes can also be combined with your logo or brand name, reinforcing recognition while opening the door to digital interaction.

2. They Bridge Offline and Online Channels

 

Adding a QR code to your ice cream stick connects consumers at the moment they’re most engaged—while enjoying your ice cream. They give someone who has already chosen your product the chance to extend that experience from simply consuming to actively engaging with your brand.

With every bite, the chance of your consumer scanning the QR code grows—creating a seamless bridge between the physical and digital worlds. This connection, made at the peak moment of enjoyment (because ice cream really does make us happier), allows brands to deepen awareness and strengthen loyalty through limitless interactions, such as:

• Entering contests or promotions,

• Exploring your full product portfolio or website, and

• Connecting with your brand on social media.

By meeting your audience at the height of their engagement, QR codes on your ice cream stick promise to turn a single bite into a complete omnichannel experience—keeping your brand top of mind long after the last bite. What better way to boost repeat purchases?

3. They Maximize Return on Investment

In such a dynamic market, it’s essential to keep a close eye on every production cost. However, when assessing the expense of adding QR codes to ice cream sticks, it’s important to look beyond the upfront investment.

“Yes, a laser-printed QR code does cost more than a plain stick,” explains Andrea Montreuil, CEO of Innodelice. “But instead of weighing it against a standard stick alone, ice cream brands should consider that added cost in the context of their broader marketing and advertising initiatives before making a decision.”

After all, it’s an investment that can pay off big time. For example, a large beverage company that introduced QR codes offering personalized recipes experienced a 35% increase in app downloads and a 20% increase in sales during the campaign.

Similar results occurred for a leading beauty brand, which utilized NFC tags to educate customers about sustainable ingredient sourcing. The implementations generated 40% more positive brand sentiment and a 15% growth.

Seen through this lens, the incremental cost of a QR code may become insignificant when compared to the opportunity it creates—turning each purchase into an engagement touchpoint, boosting repeat sales, and offering measurable impact.

Elements to Keep in Mind

Adding QR codes to your ice cream sticks is an exciting opportunity to connect directly with consumers—and with a few simple considerations, implementation is smooth and straightforward.

• Design and Development: Each QR code design requires its own printing setup. This step ensures your code is perfectly optimized for readability and impact—a small investment that unlocks big creative possibilities.

• Minimum Order Quantities (MOQ): If your sticks are already branded, your MOQ stays the same. For brands introducing laser printing for the first time, MOQs may differ slightly, allowing you to test and launch your QR initiative efficiently. It’s best to connect with smart wood for quick validation.

• Lead Times: Expect an average of 4–6 weeks for development and around two months for production. Planning your QR campaign in advance ensures your sticks are ready to roll out right alongside your marketing calendar.

• QR Code Creation: Simply provide your URL, and smart wood will generate the QR code for you. (Note: at this stage, Unicode characters are not supported — but your link will work perfectly using standard characters.)

smart wood already has three confidential projects in progress—proof that leading players are recognizing the value.

Putting It All Together

Advertising has always been a cornerstone of success in the ice cream industry. Today, the rise of digital engagement and QR technology makes it easier than ever to bridge the offline and online worlds, extending consumer interactions beyond the freezer and into the digital realm.

smart wood’s new laser-printed QR code sticks transform something functional into something powerful: a direct, safe, and innovative link between your brand and your consumer. And the company already has several confidential projects underway—proof that industry leaders recognize its value. Some of these are set to launch in the coming weeks, marking the first customers’ QR code experiences!

For ice cream brands, it’s a simple yet game-changing way to maximize your real estate, boost engagement, and drive loyalty.

If you’d like to learn more about bringing QR code sticks into your portfolio, reach out directly to smart wood or contact us at Innodelice.

-----------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------------

ABOUT INNODELICE 

Founded by former executives in the ice cream industry, INNODELICE aims to create a worldwide ecosystem of solutions within the frozen dessert industry. Thanks to the relationships fostered by INNODELICE, manufacturers, brands, importers, distributors, and suppliers can discover, buy, and sell solutions to grow their businesses. These solutions include co-manufactured and branded products and innovative and competitive ingredients, packaging, and services. Our collaboration model generates lower costs and fewer risks for our participating partners while optimizing their time to market. To learn more about INNODELICE, contact Andrea Montreuil or visit www.innodelice.com.

ABOUT SMART WOOD

smart wood is proud to be a family-owned company that has become the world’s leading manufacturer of food grade wooden sticks (ice-cream, coffee stirrers, wooden skewers). Almost 100 years of experience in being attentive to their customer’s needs, has enabled us to become an essential partner in this markets.

Founded in 1928 in Saint-Sauveur, France, our story began with a small local manufacturing site of wooden articles for shoes. The end of the second world war in 1945, market the beginning of our production of grade wooden sticks. In 1990, smart wood launched the paddle stick and the story of our international footprint began.