Gelato Caramel Swirl jpg

Who: General Mills

What: Häagen-Dazs Gelato Collection: Caramel Swirl

Where: Ice cream

How much: £4.99 for 4x95ml

Why: Häagen-Dazs joined the better-for-you ice cream craze in February with its first-ever gelato. There are two variants, Caramel Swirl and Chocolate Drizzle, each 100ml of which promises no more than 158kcals, 12.5g of sugar and 5.6g of fat. Unlike other healthier ice creams such as Halo Top and Oppo, Häagen-Dazs Gelato contains no sweeteners. It is part of an ice cream category up 9.9% in take-home value sales to £1,115.4m on volumes up 6% [Kantar 52 w/e 19 May 2019].

Consumer verdict: Almost three-quarters of shoppers were interested in buying this Italian-style ice cream - but interest waned considerably post-trial, with many describing it as “too expensive”. Nevertheless, the gelato achieved an overall score three points above the category norm with testers hailing the “creamy texture”, “good amount of swirl” and “great flavours”.

Pre-trial purchase: 74%

Post-trial purchase: 46%

Better than what’s out there: 68%

New and different: 58%

Overall score: 40/50