Flora Professional helps operators unlock frozen dessert growth across delivery, takeaway and in-store

Frozen desserts are a major but under-utilised opportunity in UK foodservice, held back by ongoing challenges around delivery, consistency and operational performance.

New research commissioned by Flora Professional highlights a clear gap between demand and delivery. While consumers enjoy frozen desserts, 90% of operators report quality issues linked to melting and temperature fluctuations, and 50% of consumers avoid ordering them for delivery.

This gap creates a significant opportunity for operators who can deliver a more consistent, reliable experience.

Flora Professional’s frozen dessert solutions are designed to help operators unlock that opportunity, supporting stronger delivery performance, improved efficiency and broader customer reach across takeaway, delivery and in-store occasions.

Driving better operational and commercial returns

Beyond delivery, Flora Professional offers operators a strong commercial model versus dairy soft serve.

Flora Professional delivers 9%* higher yield versus dairy soft serve, helping operators serve more portions per litre, 35 versus 33, and support profitability. (*based on machine settings)

This can help operators get more from every litre, while supporting stronger margins, reduced waste, greater back-of-house efficiency and improved return on investment.

Flora Professional also offers up to 45% lower CO2 compared with dairy soft serve, helping operators support sustainability goals alongside commercial performance.

Unlocking delivery and takeaway growth

Delivery and takeaway remain a major challenge for frozen desserts, with quality and temperature issues affecting both operator confidence and consumer demand.

The research shows that 90% of operators report quality issues caused by melting and temperature fluctuations, while more than half of operations managers say delivery is affected by quality and temperature issues*.

Consumers are noticing the issue too. Half of consumers avoid ordering frozen desserts for delivery, while 39% cite products “melting too much” as the top issue.

Poor delivery performance can lead to complaints, refunds, replacements and lost repeat orders. However, if quality and temperature risks were reduced, 54% of operators believe sales would rise.

Flora Professional helps operators maintain quality and consistency, supporting stronger delivery performance, fewer customer issues and improved profitability.

Serving more customers with one simple solution

Consumer demand for dairy alternatives is growing, but operators need solutions that are simple to implement and easy to introduce into existing operations.

Flora Professional is designed as a true 1:1 swap for dairy soft serve, allowing operators to serve more customers with one solution rather than managing multiple product lines.

In blind taste testing, 8 out of 10 consumers preferred Flora Professional soft serve compared to dairy soft serve. Half of younger consumers would be more likely to order soft serve or milkshakes if a dairy-equivalent taste was available in an option suitable for allergies or intolerances.

Aenika Shah, Head of Foodservice for UK&I at Flora Food Group, said:

“Frozen desserts, from soft-serve through to shakes, represent a significant growth category within foodservice.

What we have seen is currently operators do not have a soft serve solution for the ever-growing delivery market. Using our products, operators have the potential to unlock new occasions, serve more consumers whilst reducing allergens back-of-house, drive stronger returns and help reduce their CO2 footprint.

At Flora Professional, we work closely with operators as partners, combining insight, product and expertise to help them unlock the full potential of the frozen desserts category. Together, we can build menus that deliver on taste, performance, sustainability and profitability across delivery, takeaway and in-store.”

Flora Professional is encouraging UK operators to explore how its frozen dessert solutions can unlock growth across delivery, takeaway and in-store occasions.

For more information on the Flora Professional range please visit: Welcome to Flora Professional for foodservice professionals