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Cornetto has kickstarted this summer’s ice cream season with the launch of Cornetto Max, a new cone that takes Cornetto’s classic creamy and crunchy characteristics and elevates it to a premium, multi-sensory ice cream snacking experience.
The new product features a chocolatey disc topping, a fusion of two ice creams, a crunchy cone and layers of luxurious sauces.
And with consumer insights showing trends for nut and fruit flavours, it launched in two new flavour variants – Hazelnut Chocolate and tropical Mango and Vanilla.
“Cornetto is already one of Unilever’s most iconic ice cream brands. It’s a true heritage brand,” says Cornetto’s Global Brand Lead Hazal Kantman. “But even icons need new news, especially to meet Gen Z’s evolving expectations.”
Cornetto Max was designed to appeal to Gen Z’s love for maximalism, a trend where excess is embraced. “Indulgence is a core driver for one in five ice cream lovers globally,” adds Hazal. “But for Gen Z, in particular, more is more, in lifestyle, fashion and food. Cornetto Max taps into that.”
For 59% of these young consumers, indulgence comes in the form of regular ‘little treats’ that spark joy and connection and make premium experiences affordable. However, 65% also feel brands aren’t delivering the excitement they’re looking for.
The global market for impulse ice cream sales including single-serve ice creams, cones, sticks and sandwiches is predicted to grow 5.7% to 2032.
“For Cornetto that’s an opportunity,” Hazal says. “Our ambition is that Cornetto Max provides a different combination of textures and flavours in every bite and delivers the excitement Gen Z craves.”
Creating that multi-layered experience was a significant feat of engineering, especially as the team took the product from idea to a production line in less than a year. These timings also ensured Cornetto Max could be scaled and market-ready for this summer’s ice cream season.
“It was a technical challenge to deliver a product with such defined layers,” says Hazal. “Combining two distinct ice creams with a sauce centre and chocolatey layer on top requires a high level of precision, not just in terms of R&D formulation and specification but also in how it’s executed on the manufacturing line to ensure consistency in texture, flavour combination and visual appeal at scale.
“Many parts of the Cornetto family made it happen,” she adds. “We worked with specialist chocolate supplier Barry Callebaut to create bespoke chocolatey discs to give Cornetto Max’s top layer a premium mouthfeel.
“Engineers at Colworth’s Advanced Prototype Engineering Centre used AI to test and finesse new processes and 3D printers to make nozzles that create the new layers of ingredients in Cornetto Max’s new design. Even the factory teams in Caivano, who produced the original Cornetto ice cream, and Çorlu contributed to the development of the new production line that makes Cornetto Max today,” she says.
“For the first time, we’re also rolling out a series of experiential and social-first assets across Instagram and TikTok tailored to Gen Z’s content preferences,” says Hazal.
“In a collaboration with Ray-Ban and Meta we’re providing content creators in Italy and Spain with their own set of AI glasses. It’s a great way of ensuring they have a hands-free way to capture and share summer moments while still being able enjoying a Cornetto Max ice cream.”
To further support the launch, the team shot a new commercial called ‘Unwrapping Summer to the Max’, which builds on last summer’s iconic unwrap campaign which won a Silver and two Bronze Cannes Lions.
It sees the unwrap of a Mango and Vanilla Cornetto Max ice cream bringing people running outside to enjoy the start of summer. It was filmed on a beach in Sicily which was made famous by the hit TV show, White Lotus.
The new cones are available in ice cream’s key markets, including Italy, France, Spain, Portugal, the UK, Germany, Czechia, Slovakia, Greece and Turkiye.
Cornetto Max is already achieving amazing out-of-home sales and Mango and Vanilla is proving so popular it’s almost out of stock.
This success and last year’s relaunch of Classic Cornetto with an enhanced formulation and new packaging contributed to the Power Brand achieving strong single-digit growth in Unilever’s H1 results.
The true blue of Classic Cornetto is still the core of the Power Brand’s portfolio, but “we’re confident this premium innovation is going to be a key growth engine for us,” says Hazal. “If you thought this summer launch was exciting, you haven’t seen anything yet.”
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