Small and exquisite, one bite at a time, this is the mini ice cream that has been popular on social networks recently.
Mini ice cream is a reduced version of ordinary ice cream, usually only 1/2 or 1/3 of ordinary ice cream. Mini ice creams are rich in categories, ranging from pocket cones, popsicles to ice tiles.
Source: Xiaohongshu@Sister Jingjing in Bangkok; @Little Freckles L; @Big Yuzu; @Susu BOOM (all authorized)
Hema, Dingdong Maicai, Xiaoxiang Supermarket and other platforms have a variety of mini ice creams on sale. For example, the mini ice creams such as Hema's mini cute and Guangming Baixue Mini Small Ice Bricks have exceeded 10,000 per month in Beijing. Dingdong Maicai’s Baxi Black Crispy Mini Vanilla Flavored Ice Cream Sales soared 72%.
Source: Hema App; Dingdong Maicai App
Why are ice creams getting smaller and smaller?
The popular mini ice cream
There are three main features of mini ice cream: small enough, large enough flavors, and affordable enough.
The mini ice cream on fresh food platforms is particularly popular. Hema's own brand mini ice cream has multiple series, such as the mini multi-flavor raw beef milk ice cream combination package and the mini multi-flavor fruit popsicle combination package. Each piece is 20g, and a box of 18 pieces, which contains six different flavors. The price is 29.9 yuan/box and 24.9 yuan/box respectively. The highest price per piece is only 1.66 yuan. In terms of sales, the sales of mini multi-flavored fruit popsicle combination packages in Beijing have exceeded 10,000.
Source: Hema App
Another oriental light-raising mini popsicle combination pack has 30g each piece, 9 pieces per box, and there are three flavors in total. Hema also launched a 1 yuan activity for every 2 pieces, and the second piece is 7.95 yuan per piece, and one piece is only more than 80 cents.
Source: Hema App
Dingdong Maicai's walrus mini waffle vanilla flavor ice cream is 8 packs in a box, priced at 20.5 yuan, with an average of 2.56 yuan per piece. It is currently ranked sixth in the ice cream repurchase list, and data shows that 29% of people "buy and buy again". Heluxue Mini Cute Vanilla and Strawberry Ice Cream tops the strawberry flavor popularity list, and 71,000 people have purchased it.
Source: Dingdong Maicai App
JD platform, the sales of mini ice cream of Menglong, a high-end brand under Heluxue, have exceeded 10 million units. The net content of this mini ice cream is between 40g and 43g, and it contains a variety of flavors such as vanilla, white tea, matcha, truffle, etc. The price varies according to the net content and taste, and each piece floats around 7 to 8 yuan.
Another brand of cute mini ice cream has 8 pieces in a box, and it has two flavors. It is calculated at a price of 12.8 yuan per box, and the sales volume is also good, selling more than 6 million.
Source: Heluxue JD Self-operated Flagship Store
Yili also has a variety of mini ice creams, including Mini Qiaolez and Qixuanxuanlingling. Among them, Qixuanxuan Linglong is only 9.5g, which contains two flavors: dark milk-scented ice chestnut and dark pistachio, and it also has a variety of shapes such as round and heart shape. Yili Ice Cream Tmall flagship store has sold 2,000+ in 14 boxes, and the single price is about 1.4 yuan.
Source: Taobao Yili Ice Cream Flagship Store
In addition, products such as Haagen-Dazs and DQ are also collectively smaller. For example, Haagen-Dazs has launched a 50g mini waffle tube with a variety of flavors, priced at 28 yuan. In addition to small cups, standard cups, large cups and other specifications, DQ's Blizzard ice cream also has 185g mini cups, which is 70g less than the 255g standard cup.
Source: DQ Send Mini Program
Not only traditional ice cream brands are making efforts in the mini ice cream track, but even fast food brands such as McDonald's and Burger King have targeted this demand and launched mini ice cream products one after another.
Unlike most mini ice creams, fast food brands of mini ice cream are only given but not sold. On Children's Day, McDonald's opens benefits to all ages, and you can get free mini cylinders when you enter the store. Burger King provides mini cones for children under 12 years old.
Source: Xiaohongshu@McDonald's; @Burger King
So, why are ice creams getting smaller and smaller nowadays?
Why does ice cream become smaller?
This is inseparable from the change in people's consumption demand.
Hema ice product research and development and procurement Bingkui told Yidu that after Hema conducted research and analysis of user needs, he found that consumers were paying more and more attention to the intake of sugar, fat and total calorie when purchasing ice cream and ice cream. Therefore, Hema simplified ingredients and reduced specifications when developing ice product, so that consumers could not only enjoy the fun of ice cream, but also better control calorie and sugar intake, and reduce "crime".
Source: Hema App
Of course, "Caster halving" is still the selling point of most mini ice creams. Guangming Big White Rabbit Mini Ice Cream, a single piece is only 33g. Compared with 65g Big White Rabbit, the calorie reduction of the mini version is about 50%. Dove multi-flavor mini ice cream is 32g each, and the brand claims to be "single and small body, reducing energy intake."
Source: Bright (Bright) Ice Cream JD Self-operated Flagship Store; Dove (Dove) Ice Cream JD Self-operated Flagship Store
Little ice cream also brings more diverse flavors.
According to the "2024 Interesting Lifestyle Report", nearly 40% of consumers prefer the function of food and beverages to "satisfie cravings and enjoy delicious food". Most brands of mini ice creams have launched a multi-flavor mix. If you use 20g per piece, you can only taste 60g of three different flavors, and it is not as high as 65g of an ordinary ice cream.
From the consumer group, the main force of ice cream products is currently the young consumer group, and they are also promoting the popularity of mini ice cream.
iMedia Consulting "2025-2026 China Ice Cream Industry Consumption Trend Monitoring and Case Study Report" shows that the ice cream consumer group is mainly young married and child-rearing groups, with ice cream consumers aged 18 to 35 accounting for 78.1% and married families with children accounting for 62.0% (purchase for children at home). Zhang Yi, CEO and chief analyst of iMedia Consulting, told Yidu that these consumers prefer the personalization and diversification of products. In particular, the mini ice cream has a cute appearance and is very suitable for taking photos and sharing. "For families with children, mini ice cream can control the amount, neither waste nor worry about consuming too much, but it is not good for children's health."
Moreover, the mini ice cream is lighter and the price has not increased significantly.
The cute multi-cones sold at the self-operated flagship store of Heluxue include two types of cute multi-cones and mini-cones. Taking the strawberry flavor as an example, the regular version of cute multiple single piece 67g, the total weight of 4 pieces is 268g, and the price is 20.5 yuan. Mini version has 20g single single piece, 8 pieces weighing 160g, and the price is 12.5 yuan. When you get the price per gram, you can find that the average version is about 0.076 yuan, while the mini version is about 0.078 yuan. The difference between the two is 0.002 yuan, which is less than 1 point, and the difference can be ignored.
Source: Heluxue JD Self-operated Flagship Store
"Light burden" and "light price", accurately hit consumers' core needs of "satisfied with cravings and low cost to try out".
Regarding the future development prospects of mini ice cream, Zhang Yi said that the sales growth of mini ice cream is relatively high, and major brands may combine the advantages of mini ice cream in the future to launch corresponding products to attract consumers' attention. At the same time, the "small capacity" of Mi Ice Cream means a short edible cycle, so consumers' repurchase behavior will increase, which is conducive to the brand's lengthening the interest chain and thus improving commercial benefits.
Mini ice cream, although it has become smaller in size, is still happy.
References:
[1]Merz International: Global Snack Status Report 2024
[2] iMedia Consulting: 2025-2026 China Ice Cream Industry Consumption Trend Monitoring and Case Study Report
Author: Minmin Zhang Yi
Editor: Tennessee
