Following a 2009 which saw a drop in the number of introductions in every major segment of the dairy category, 2010 provided something of a rebound for dairy manufacturers, at least based purely on the level of introductions. Nevertheless, only butter, margarine/other blends and cream matched or surpassed 2008 totals, per statistics generated from Mintel Global New Products Database. Indeed, dairy-based, frozen products and hard/semi-hard cheese fell significantly short of their totals of two years ago. For the former, however, this is continuing a trend seen over the past five years.
Some 533 dairy-based, frozen products entered the market in 2006, a number which fell to 311 in 2010. Though it may be a challenge to regard ice cream as healthy, a number of 2010's introductions in the segment at least sought to appear healthier. Most notable of such efforts was the reduction or elimination of negatives; Haagen-Dazs expanded its Five line to include Lemon Ice Cream. Made with only five ingredients (in this case, milk, cream, sugar, eggs and lemon), the entire range attempts to capitalize on the natural trend that continues to prove to be among the nation's strongest. However, also among its selling points was its fat reduction. The Five product had 10g of fat, compared with the 16g found in Haagen-Dazs' Super Premium Ice Cream.