US ingredients company Pecan Deluxe has launched its signature edible cookie dough and brownie pieces into the Australian ice cream marketplace.
Edible cookie dough is a growing global trend, according to Pecan Deluxe, which is distributing its products in Australia through ingredients company Hawkins Watts.
The two companies say they are expecting big things from the launch of the cookie dough lines, which include plain, raspberry, chocolate and chocolate chip variants as well as bespoke flavours, all supplied as individual frozen pieces.
Pecan Deluxe, started out in the US in the 1950s as a retail ice cream business, but in the 1960s began to focus on ingredients.
The company expanded into Europe in 2000 - where it is now the largest supplier of cookie dough to the ice cream industry - and into the Asia Pacific region a few years later.
“Australian food manufacturers have not yet had the opportunity to grow their market share through the introduction of cookie dough into key product lines such as ice cream, desserts and bakery,” Pecan Deluxe European and Asia Pacific managing director Graham Kingston said.
“Cookie dough is extremely versatile and compatible with numerous other ingredients, so the creative possibilities are almost infinite. It’s undoubtedly our most popular inclusion in the US and Europe and it’s hard to remember a time before this level of demand was simply business as usual.”
Kingston said cookie dough is now getting a toe-hold in Australia, with a couple of very new cookie dough parlours in Sydney and Melbourne doing well.
“The days of concerns about eating raw dough are well behind us. Formulas have long since evolved to eliminate raw egg whilst always enhancing taste and texture, and our massive sales of cookie dough across the world show that we must be getting something right,” he said.
Pecan Deluxe products also include praline nuts, chocolate clusters, and brownie pieces for use in ice cream and desserts, with the latter also now available in Australia.
“Pecan Deluxe brownie pieces are already a huge success in US and European markets, featuring in multiple product lines from tub and hand-held ice creams and frozen yoghurt,” the company said.
“Indulgent tastes such as salted caramel and Belgian chocolate are among the most popular soft serve and dessert flavours in Australia, whilst Asian flavours such as matcha, miso and green tea have surged in popularity over the past six months.
"These flavours are perfect partners for brownie pieces and Australian food companies can now incorporate them into innovative new product lines.”
