Consumer goods giant Unilever is experimenting with warmer freezers for ice cream products to help meet its long term environmental goals.
Unilever is running tests to study the effects of raising the temperature in its nearly three million ice cream freezers from zero to 10 degrees Fahrenheit, The Wall Street Journal reported. (RELATED: Ben & Jerry’s Parent Company Defended Doing Business In Countries With Poor Human Rights Records)
Warmer ice-cream freezers might help Unilever’s sales with sustainability-minded consumers—and keep stores’ ice-cream selling season going longer https://t.co/yq492ILrWE
— The Wall Street Journal (@WSJ) February 22, 2023
The company will have to reformulate its popular ice cream products, such as Ben & Jerry’s, Klondike, Breyers and Magnum, to withstand the higher temperatures without melting and losing their structure.
Raising freezer temperatures would reduce energy use and carbon emissions by 20 to 30 percent per unit, the company said in a May press release announcing the first phase of the tests. Unilever would not disclose the project’s long term costs, but the company said it factored costs into its existing budgets, the Journal noted.
Unilever has encouraged its brands to take progressive stances on social justice and environmental issues, leading Ben & Jerry’s to temporarily boycott Israel, create progressive flavors and express support for defunding the police.
Unilever has tested higher-temperature freezers in Germany and Indonesia, according to the Journal.
It’s unclear what Unilever’s timeline would be for warming its freezers if the ongoing tests in Indonesia go as planned. The company owns freezers in 60 countries and expects the research to take 15 years.
Unilever did not immediately respond to a request for comment.