What's New in August: Out-of-Home Ice Cream & Frozen Dessert Innovations
At Innodelice, we believe that while knowledge is key to making good decisions, collaboration is what truly unlocks the frozen dessert industry's growth. By connecting manufacturers, brands, importers, distributors, and suppliers through a worldwide ecosystem of solutions, we help the industry move faster, together. In that spirit, we share what we discover around the world so you can stay informed, find inspiration, and make better decisions, faster.
In this edition of What's New in Out of Home: 9 launches from Europe, North America, and Asia. You will find boozy collabs testing the scoop shop as a cocktail bar, frozen treat brands leveraging a popular film franchise and the movie theater experience, a Route 66 anniversary collection with creative roadside-inspired flavors, and fine dining pastry making its way into the ice cream bar format.
⭐ Pick of the Month: Kanji Ice Cream (Japan) — a shaped novelty ice cream where customers choose by kanji character rather than flavor, backed by patented non-melting technology that keeps the ice cream solid for up to 30 minutes at room temperature. A concept as clever as it is photogenic.
Here's a closer look at this month's OOH launches.
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Asia
Europe
North America
Asia
⭐ Pick of the Month
Kanji Ice Cream: Shaped Novelty Ice Cream: 3 Flavors (Japan)
Kanji Ice Cream flips the traditional selection process entirely: instead of choosing by flavor, customers choose their ice cream by what it says. Each piece is molded into a kanji character, turning the treat into a personal statement or souvenir. Available characters include 鎌倉 (Kamakura), 日本 (Japan), 忍者 (Ninja), and 富士山 (Mt. Fuji), with custom designs created for specific events and corporate partners.
The three flavors are:
Crunchy Rich Chocolate
Crispy Strawberry
Chewy Milk
What makes Kanji Ice Cream as functional as it is photogenic is its patented non-melting technology, developed in partnership with Japanese company Fulllife. Strawberry polyphenols are incorporated into the recipe to stabilize the structure, keeping the ice cream solid for up to 30 minutes at room temperature — long enough to be photographed, admired, and eaten at leisure.
Format: Shaped novelty ice cream
Price: ¥800 (USD 5.00)
Distribution: Kamakura (flagship), Sanga Stadium in Kyoto, JR Shin-Fuji Station in Shizuoka, and the Fuji Shibazakura Festival in Yamanashi; custom corporate orders available. Japan
Europe
PleinCoeur: Ice Cream Bar by Maxime Frédéric: 4 Sundaes (France)
PleinCoeur is the ice cream bar concept by Maxime Frédéric, the pastry chef behind the acclaimed dessert program at Cheval Blanc Paris. Located in Paris' 17th arrondissement, what was once a quiet corner of the space has been transformed into a live ice cream bar, now taking center stage in the experience.
Their ice creams are churned and plated live in front of customers, with no additives in the base. Maxime Frédéric channels his Cheval Blanc pastry expertise into every element: milk comes from a Normandy farm, hazelnuts are sourced from Lot-et-Garonne and transformed into praline in-house, vanilla is acquired directly from Madagascar, and the matcha is a premium Uji variety from near Kyoto. Because the bases contain no stabilizers or additives, the ice cream melts quickly.
Each sundae layers the ice cream with crispy pralines, fresh or caramelized fruit, and sauces assembled to order. The summer menu features four signature sundaes:
Pistache: pistachio ice cream, pistachio praline, pistachio crunch, and sablés
Noisette: hazelnut ice cream, hazelnut praline, hazelnut crunch, and caramelized hazelnuts
Chocolat: chocolate ice cream, chocolate sauce, chocolate crunch, and cacao sablé with sea salt
Framboise Vanille: raspberry-vanilla ice cream, raspberry sorbet, raspberry sauce, almond crunch, and fresh raspberries
Format: Live-churned ice cream sundaes
Price: €8.50 (USD 9.50)
Distribution: PleinCoeur, 64 Rue des Batignolles, Paris, France
North America
Perry's Ice Cream: Summer Scoop Shop Exclusives: 3 Flavors (USA)
Perry's launched three exclusive scoop shop flavors for summer 2026, available only at its locations in New York, Ohio, and Western Pennsylvania. The lineup leans into fruit-forward profiles and plant-based options, designed to push beyond the everyday scoop.
Prickly Pear Lime: sweet prickly pear ice cream with zesty lime
Tropical Chili Lime: pineapple and coconut ice cream with tangy chili lime flakes
Dairy-Free Cherry Chip Oats Cream: cherry frozen dessert (oat milk base), with fudge flakes
Format: Hand-scooped, available at select partner scoop shop locations
Price: Set by individual partner locations
Distribution: Sold through partner businesses in select regions. Use Perry's Flavor Finder to locate the nearest serving location.
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams: Summer Collection: 6 Flavors (USA)
Jeni's Splendid Ice Creams launched its 2026 summer collection across scoop shops, online, and with nationwide shipping. The lineup balances nostalgic comfort flavors with bold, unexpected combinations:
Campfire S'mores: candy-like ice cream with deep toasted sugar notes, swirled with gooey bittersweet fudge sauce and graham cracker cookies
Hibiscus Chili Punch Sorbet: juicy hibiscus sorbet with a pleasant heat from jalapeño and black pepper
Strawberry Pretzel Pie: cream cheese ice cream with pretzel streusel and bright strawberry sauce
Confetti Brownie Batter: dark chocolate custard ice cream swirled with fudgy brownies and rainbow sprinkles
Matchapolitan: Japanese matcha and Fair Trade vanilla ice creams twisted with strawberry jam
Summer Berries & Passion Fruit: raspberries, blackberries, and blueberries in fresh cultured buttermilk and cream with sweet-tart passion fruit
Format: Hand-scooped; Pints (473mL) also available for nationwide shipping and local delivery
Price: Single scoop from USD 6.75 in-store; available online as a 5-pint bundle for USD 79.00
Distribution: Jeni's scoop shops nationwide, online at jenis.com, free shipping across the contiguous US
Carvel: Nutella Lineup + Dairy-Free with Klimon (USA)
Carvel ran two activations this season:
Nutella Lineup: On World Nutella Day, Carvel launched a limited-time hazelnut cocoa menu across participating locations for spring 2026. The lineup included:
Nutella soft serve
Hand-scooped chocolate ice cream layered with Nutella and Carvel Crunchies
Sundae Dasher with banana, soft serve, Nutella, and Crunchies, topped with whipped cream
Sundae Dasher with chocolate Crunchies, banana, soft serve, and Nutella, topped with whipped cream
Dairy-Free with Klimon: Carvel began testing a dairy-free lineup at 8 New York locations in partnership with Klimon, a 100% plant-based brand using a pea protein and coconut oil base, delivering a dense and creamy texture close to traditional Carvel soft serve. The lineup included:
Soft serve: strawberry, chocolate, cold brew, and pistachio
Hand-scooped: mint Oreo, cookies and cream, and chocolate peanut butter
Flying saucers: soft serve ice cream nestled between two chocolate wafers
Carvel hinted at broader expansion depending on customer response.
Format: Soft serve, hand-scooped, sundaes, and flying saucers
Price: Soft serve and hand-scooped USD 6.99-9.99; sundaes USD 9.99–11.99; flying saucers USD 3.99
Distribution: Nutella lineup was available at all Carvel Scoop Shops. For the Klimon lineup, there were only 8 test locations in New York: Ardsley, Bellmore, Brooklyn, East Islip, Jefferson Valley, New Rochelle, and Manhattan, USA
Ben & Jerry's: Scoop Shop Exclusives: 2 Flavors (Canada & USA)
Ben & Jerry's debuted two new flavors exclusive to its scoop shops in the USA and Canada, with no current plans to expand to pints.
Key Lime Pie Non-Dairy: tart lime balanced with crunchy graham cracker chunks in a creamy non-dairy base
Black Raspberry Fudge Chunk: bittersweet black raspberry ice cream with rich chocolate fudge chunks
Format: Hand-scooped, scoop shop exclusive
Price: Small (2 scoops) USD 6.50; Large (3 scoops) USD 9.75
Distribution: Ben & Jerry's scoop shops, USA and Canada
Serendipity 3 x BuzzBar: Boozy Frozen Desserts: 2 Offerings (USA)
New York's Serendipity 3 teamed up with BuzzBar for a boozy summer collab running from May 22 through end of summer at its Upper East Side and Times Square locations.
Drunken Cookie Buzzed Milkshake: cookies and cream ice cream blended with bourbon, heavy cream, and vanilla bean paste, topped with whipped cream, crumbled Oreos, a BuzzBar Cookies and Cream bar, and a chocolate drizzle
Citrus Berry Drop Raspberry & Lemon Boozy Smoothie: raspberry blood orange sorbet blended with Amarena wild cherry syrup and vodka, topped with rainbow coconut jelly, a BuzzBar Citrus Berry Drop bar, and a raspberry coulis drizzle
Format: Blended frozen beverages with embedded alcohol-infused ice cream bars
Price: USD 22.95–24.95 per beverage
Distribution: Serendipity 3, Upper East Side and Times Square, Manhattan
ICEE x Dippin' Dots: Minions & Monsters: 2 Products (USA)
J&J Snack Foods, the manufacturer and distributor behind both ICEE and Dippin' Dots, brought two of its frozen brands into theater concessions as part of Illumination's Minions and Monsters summer campaign, timed to the film's July 1, 2026 theatrical release.
ICEE Banana Blast: sweet banana frozen slushie
Dippin' Dots Banana Split: banana split flavor in the signature frozen bead format
Format: Frozen slushie and frozen beads, theater exclusive
Price: ICEE USD 6.99 / Dippin' Dots USD 6.49 (may vary by theater)
Distribution: Select theater chains across the USA
Clementine's: Route 66 Collection: 4 Flavors (USA)
Clementine's celebrated the 100th anniversary of Route 66 with a limited-time collection of four scoop shop-exclusive flavors inspired by iconic roadside eats and sips, available at all parlors from May 5, 2026 while supplies last. Windows down, radio up — the Mother Road has never tasted this good.
Dr. Dirty Soda: 23-spice cola float ice cream
Milkshake & Fries: milk chocolate ice cream with crispy, salty potato chips
Pretzel Cookie Dough: malt ice cream with salty pretzel swirl, cookie dough bites, and malted milk balls
Cherry Slush: bright, candy cherry sorbet
Format: Hand-scooped
Price: Mini (1 flavor) USD 6.00; Petite (2 flavors) USD 8.00
Distribution: All Clementine's creamery locations, USA
NOTE: The world of ice cream and frozen desserts moves fast. While we do our best to keep everything current, product details, pricing, and availability can change after publication. For the latest information, we recommend checking directly with the brand or retailer.
Want to be featured in our next ice cream and frozen dessert round-up? Email Andrea Montreuil from Innodelice with more details!
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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.
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