History of Ice Cream

2016 ELAR Ice Cream & Frozen Desserts

History, Development and Status of Ice Cream Industry

  • Early Origins:

    • Ice cream evolved from iced beverages and water ices popular in the early medieval period.

    • Alexander the Great enjoyed snow flavored with honey and nectar.

    • King Solomon was fond of iced drinks during harvesting.

    • Nero Claudius Caesar (A.D. 54-86) sent runners for mountain snow flavored with fruits and juices.

    • Marco Polo brought a sherbet recipe from the Far East to Italy.

  • 16th-17th Century:

    • Ice cream evolved in the 16th century from sherbet.

    • 'Cream Ice' appeared at Charles I's table in 17th century England.

    • Catherine de Medici introduced similar frozen desserts to France in 1553.

  • 1660:

    • Ice cream became available to the general public.

    • Sicilian Procopio introduced a milk, cream, butter, and eggs recipe at Café Procope in Paris.

  • Key Developments:

    • Romans and Chinese enjoyed flavored ice desserts.

    • Marco Polo reported Asians making fruit-flavored ices for thousands of years.

    • Process evolved from hauling mountain ice to salt/ice freezing methods.

    • Cream was introduced as an ingredient.

  • Refrigeration & Modernization:

    • Cooling food with snow/ice.

    • Dissolving salts in water produces cooling.

    • Mixing salts and snow cools further (mid-late 17th century).

    • Cream inclusion in water ices (around the same time).

    • Ice cream maker invention (mid-19th century).

    • Mechanical refrigeration development (late 19th - early 20th centuries) led to the modern ice cream industry.

  • Revolution and Mass Production:

    • Jacob Fussel started wholesale ice cream manufacturing in Baltimore, Maryland (1851) due to excess cream in his dairy business.

    • Mix processing occurred via batch pasteurization (Sommer, 1944), with large plants moving to continuous (HTST) pasteurization.

    • Hand-cranked ice cream freezer developed by Nancy Johnson in 1846.

    • Industrial refrigeration development by Carl von Linde (1870s).

    • Continuous-process freezer perfected in 1926, enabling mass production.

  • 20th Century Trends:

    • The rise of the giant supermarket created demand for cheaper ice cream.

    • The 1960s saw a resurgence in premium ice cream.

    • Market fragmentation included low-fat varieties, frozen yogurt, and fruit bars.

    • Ice cream still holds ~60% of the frozen dessert market share.

Developments in Ice Cream and Frozen Desserts

  • 1800s:

    • Insulated ice houses were developed.

    • Hand-cranked ice cream freezer patented by Nancy Johnson of Philadelphia (1843).

    • Ice cream soda invented by Robert Green (1874).

    • Ice cream sundae originated in response to religious criticism (late 19th century).

  • 1900s:

    • Condensed and dried milks development; pasteurizer and homogenizer improvements (1900).

    • Ice cream cone invented at World's Fair in St. Louis, Missouri (1904).

    • Ice cream recognized as an essential food (1921).

    • Prepackaged ice cream sold through supermarkets and specialty stores (1970s).

    • Soft ice cream introduced, stabilizing agent gluten introduced;