Ajinomoto AGF "Blendy" Stick Creamy Ice Cream Series
The new "Blendy" stick creamy ice cream series launched by Ajinomoto AGF on March 1 has been well received. The products have been well received, especially by female users.
The four items are "Creamy Iced Cafe au Lait" and "Creamy Iced Caramel au Lait" (7 each), "Creamy Iced Cocoa au Lait" and "Creamy Iced Maccha au Lait" (6 each). The reason for their popularity is the renewed "Creamy" concept, which enhances the value of rich and satisfying iced beverages. The new products are appealing for their quality, which allows consumers to enjoy the richness of milk and the rich taste of the ingredients. The new product responds to the needs of people who want to "enjoy something sweet and comforting" and "enjoy it as if it were a sweet treat.
According to Kyoko Sakamoto of Ajinomoto AGF's Consumer Business Department, who is in charge of the product, most stick users are women in their 20s to 40s. She said, "We have a lot of ice cream drinkers, especially women in their 20s and 30s, and many of them have children in elementary school who always have milk in the fridge. That's where the affinity was. With the "Blendy" creamy ice cream series, customers can enjoy a creamy drink using milk or soy milk in the refrigerator, instead of a menu item that costs about 600 yen at a café. Many people enjoy cocoa with their children.
Ajinomoto AGF "Blendy" Stick Creamy Ice Cream Series
Mr. Sakamoto, Ajinomoto AGF Consumer Business Department
Why is Ajinomoto AGF working to strengthen its iced drink stick products? The company believes that customer needs are growing and that it wants to make stick iced beverages a year-round product.
Ajinomoto AGF has been offering iced stick products under the "Blendy" brand for about 6 to 7 years, and sales have been favorable, meeting customer needs for an easy way to enjoy a cold café latte in summer, In 2023, in response to the need for something sweet and comforting, the company has evolved into an iced beverage that can be enjoyed like a sweet treat.
The reason for developing the iced series in the summer is that "sticks" have a strong image as a winter drink, and only about 10% of people enjoy powdered beverages over ice, he said. Sakamoto said that even among heavy users of "Blended Stick," there were some who stopped drinking the stick in the summer. We aimed to connect winter and summer with the new value proposition of an iced stick that dissolves in cold water or milk, and to make the stick a part of people's lives throughout the year," he said.
In fact, when people who had not been frequent stick drinkers purchased the ice cream series of "Blendy" sticks in the summer, they were about twice as likely to continue purchasing the sticks in the winter as those who had not purchased them. This is due to the fact that they have become aware of new drinking scenarios.
However, the most significant factor in the popularity of AGF's iced stick products is probably their technological strength. These are the ease of melting and the depth of flavor.
Most of the ingredients of the creaming powder in the stick are oil, which normally does not dissolve in cold food. The company shares with Ajinomoto the technology for making the powder soluble in cold water or milk, as well as the technology for creating rich flavor ingredients that increase the richness of the product when combined with milk. The group's technologies are being brought together to promote the penetration of ice sticks.
Sakamoto said, "In our consumer survey, we check not only the taste, but also whether there was stress from the production stage. The new "Creamy Ice Cream" product was found to melt without any stress by everyone who cooperated in the survey. We think we are getting to a pretty good point," he said.
The stick offers more creaminess and milk flavor than other concentrated beverages because of the use of creaming powder. It would not be surprising if the time comes when sticks lead iced drinking in the summer.
One of the challenges in popularizing the product is that not many people can actually visualize the product feature that the powder dissolves in cold water or milk. Ajinomoto AGF intends to increase trial opportunities by strengthening communication and in-store promotion to encourage people to actually pick up the product.