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I I

Summer and ice cream naturally
go hand-in-hand

so do ice cream sandwiches.

Ice Cream As a Dessert Filling tor has provided a solid foundation for the local habit of
enjoying ice cream, which has evolved over the course
According to what food reviewer Jeri Quinzio told of history and culture into a distinctive style. Since the
The Boston Globe, the first traceable ice cream sand- 1960s, there have been many mobile food vans selling
wiches appeared in New York at the turn of the 20th ice cream in Singapore City, with stallholders carrying
century. In 1899, New York Mail and Express reported a wide range of ice cream flavors and fulfilling custom-
that “the trendiest sandwich was not ham, salmon or ers’ waffle cone orders with a scoop. As time went on,
cheese, but ice cream!” In those days, street vendors the form in which ice cream was sold also changed. A
served vanilla ice cream from the freezer on two thin long, narrow knife was used to cut the brick-shaped ice
sheets of paper and received a penny for their services. creams in certain proportions. They were then sand-
No one knows who was at the origin of this simple wiched between toast or crackers to complete the pro-
“ice cream sandwich”, a street dessert favored by the duction. The flavors that are sandwiched into the ice
working class (especially Wall Street workers), which cream have also become more varied, such as durian,
was later brought to the tables of fine restaurants. It was red bean, and some familiar flavors for Chinese like corn
then served on a plate for guests to eat elegantly with a and taro are used as fillings as well.
fork, and evolved into a form with two slices of sponge This is a popular way to beat the heat in this “Garden
cakes instead of two sheets of thin paper. City”. Whether it’s the bustling Orchard Road, or Fishtail
In 1928, an ice cream vendor from San Francisco Park, which is packed with tourists from all over the world,
sandwiched a scoop of ice cream between a pile of oat- or Chinatown, you’ll always find food vans with signs and
meal cookies, leading to the prototype of what would people enjoying ice cream wrapped in bread.
become the ice cream sandwich made from waffles. The
national enthusiasm for it was later fueled by the baseball The ‘innovative’ Ice Dog and Xindongjiao
game. It is said that in the 1940s a vendor named Jeremy
Newberg used to make and sell vanilla chocolate ice Unlike Singapore and other Asian countries, Chi-
cream sandwiches to fans by the former Forbes Field in nese interest in ice cream has always been seasonally
Pittsburgh for 5 cents each. constrained, resulting in a less enthusiastic market and
less responsive consumer feedback.
Constant Evolution Since It Was Introduced In mid-2020, data released by the China Ice Cream
To Asia Market Research Centre reported that China’s ice cream
market totaled 138 billion CNY in 2019, leaping to the
With the cultural exchange of immigrants and the world’ s top spot in terms of consumption. However, the
development of different cultures, this sandwich, once consumption per capita is still significantly lower than
limited to the ice cream flavors, is also being inspired in countries such as the United States and Switzerland.
by new ideas around the world. The bastani-e nooni And the attitude of the media is evident in the fact that
from Iran, for example, is a saffron and rose flavored some local newspapers are still labelling ice cream as a
ice cream sandwiched between two wafer crackers and “small, previously unremarkable market” before calling
garnished with crushed pistachios. The Vietnamese it an industry with greater potential.
street dessert “bánh mì kep kem” is similar, except that On the other hand, imported brands such as Wall’s
the vendors there are more ‘enthusiastic’ about coating and Magnum, and popular Chinese brands such as Zhong
the bread with ice cream and using crushed peanuts to Xue Gao and Zhongjie 1946, are becoming more expen-
add to the taste. sive per unit in the Chinese market. Ice cream products
Ice cream sandwiches are also among the special- priced below 3 CNY are mostly traditional lollipops,
ities of Singapore. Its geographic proximity to the equa- with low gross margins and a crisis of innovation.

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