Traditional ice creams have additives and stabilisers to make them robust to temperature fluctuations during distribution while simultaneously having a high carbon footprint cold chain. Cambridge Cryo are tackling both these issues by freezing healthier portions of ice cream on demand at bars and restaurants. Ice creams are often mass-produced and frozen in one central location then distributed through a cold chain of vehicles, warehouses and shops before finally being consumed. This is energy and carbon intensive and the ice cream must remain frozen for weeks or months before reaching the consumer. Sometimes the food may experience temperature fluctuations during distribution so chemical stabilisers are added to help make them more robust against thawing and refreezing. As consumers demand healthier choices with a lower carbon footprint, this presents an ideal opportunity for ice creams that avoid the cold chain and are frozen on demand. Dr John Morris and Stephen Lamb previously designed and built specialist equipment to freeze medicines and are now working at Cambridge Cryo to tackle new freezing markets. As experts in thermodynamics and ice nucleation they sometimes made excellent fresh ice cream with their machines. Under the Innovate UK Launchpad agritech and food competition Cambridge Cryo are making and testing a novel system to freeze high quality ice cream on-demand for bars and cafes. The pre-made ice cream pouches are transported and stored at ambient temperature while the serving sites have a compact machine to freeze each serving. The novel cooling machine allows for rapid freezing while the internal ice structure is controlled to minimise the ice crystal size. The result is a delicious and smooth ice cream served in calorie controlled portions with no additives or chemical stabilisers. Thanks to Innovate UK funding Cambridge Cryo can accelerate their product development by working with local suppliers around Cambridgeshire and evaluate the equipment and pouches with partners in the East of England. They plan to launch their high quality ice cream range in 2026 then expand their offering using the same platform with frozen yoghurts, cocktails and beverages.