Keep Cool with Sublime Summer Ice Creams

SMOOTHIE BARS, MINTY FLAVORS, AND EVEN FRAPPUCCINO!



Summer weather is here and America’s ice cream makers have rolled out a number of tasty cold treats to help keep us cool, calm and collected.

Weight Watchers has introduced Strawberry Smoothie and Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bars.

Strawberry Smoothie Bars pair strawberry-flavored frozen yogurt with strawberries. Each bar is 1 point in the Weight Watchers “Points” system. Dark Chocolate Raspberry Bars feature low fat raspberry ice cream and raspberries covered with a dark chocolate coating. The points value per bar is 2. A package of 12 bars sells at a suggested retail price of $4.29 to $5.49.

Friendly’s, the popular ice cream company and restaurant chain in the Northeast, has debuted a new mint-derived flavor in is Sundae Xtreme line just in time for summer. Mint Cookie Collisions is the newest flavor in the “Xtreme” line along with Fudge Nut Brownie.

Friendly’s has also rolled out two new frozen yogurt varieties. Honey Granola is vanilla frozen yogurt with a honey flavored swirl and granola oat clusters. Forbidden Fudge Brownie is a double chocolate frozen yogurt with fudge swirls and fudge brownie chunks.

Each of the four new flavors is sold in a 48-ounce carton with a suggested price of $5.99.

Further west, Smith Dairy Products in Ohio has taken its Ruggles premium chocolate ice cream product and put it in a pint-size carton. Suggested retail price for a pint of Ruggles premium chocolate is $1.99 to $2.49.

Starbucks launched three new ice cream flavors that are “coffee-free.” The flavors trace their roots to several alternative beverages sold in the coffee chain’s retail outlets. Vanilla Bean Frappuccino, Signature Hot Chocolate, and Strawberries & Crème Frappuccino are available in pints in supermarket freezer cases in the $3.89 to $4.39 price range. Vanilla Bean Frappuccino is also available in a single-cup which sells for $1.29 to $1.39.

EDITOR’S PICK! While TFFG is not a regular consumer of ice cream, he enjoys the cool and creamy treat every now and then. However, while perusing the frozen food section of his regular grocery store not too long ago he was struck with an “I could really go for some ice cream” moment. His normal pick would have been a package of a “good for you”-type product like Weight Watchers, but TFFG didn’t really want to make the long term commitment to a 12-pack of anything or even a four-pack. But then, there it was—a single serve cup of New! The Skinny Cow Dulce de Leche. TFFG was both pleased and satisfied with the taste and texture of this one-cup flavor. He paid about $1.49 if memory serves him correctly, and found it worth every penny.

Cookie-licious! Friendly’s Oreo Ice Cream Cake

NEW CAKE GREAT FOR GRADS AND DADS

Summer is just around the corner and warm weather means shoppers will be flocking to their grocers’ freezer cases for cool and delectable ice cream treats.

Friendly’s, the ice cream and restaurant company known throughout the eastern U.S for its ice cream cakes, has teamed up with Kraft, the company that markets the successful Nabisco line of cookies and snacks, to create the Oreo Ice Cream Cake.

This combined confection of ice cream and the popular Oreo cookie features two layers of Friendly’s premium vanilla ice cream with chunks of Oreo cookies, separated by a crunchy Oreo cookie center layer. The ice cream cake itself is topped off with vanilla flavored icing, more Oreo cookie chunks and a double drizzle of fudge.

Friendly’s says the cakes are being introduced just in time for graduation and Father’s Day gatherings. Suggested retail price for the 60 oz. ice cream cake is $19.99.

Friendly’s is clearly in the “party mode” as it has also rolled out ice cream cupcakes, made with a chocolate cake topped with Friendly’s vanilla ice cream, whipped icing and decorations. The cupcakes come in a clear clamshell container with six cupcakes to a package. Suggested retail price for the package of six is $6.99.