Packaged ice creams from the supermarket, the Gambero Rosso ranking: here are the promoted and gobsmacked ones for this summer

The ice-cream artisanal is the most loved by Italians, but many also appreciate the packaged sticks. The invention of these desserts is due to the Italian Domenico Pepino who in 1884 moved from Naples to Turin, bringing with him his family and everything needed to make his ice cream. In the Piedmontese capital Pepino opened his shop by calling him “Neapolitan ice cream shop”. Here the first stick is born, called “Penguin”, which has become a classic of the ancient ice cream shop.

This invention has become a constant in the summers of all Italians. The packaged sticks are for all ages and are now available in many variations. But how has it evolved over time? Today, in 2024, there are five ice creams that are among Italians’ favorites. Here is the top five compiled by Red shrimp.

1. Sammontana – Gruvi Resolute Hazelnut: Hazelnut enthusiasts can rejoice. The percentage of dried fruit, in fact, is well present in the various components of this stick, from the icing to the inside. On the nose it smells of gianduiotto, while on the palate it stands out for its soft covering whose crunchiness is entrusted to the copious and coarse grains of hazelnuts. The only flaw: it’s too sweet.
2. Ferrero – Kinder Chocolate Ice Cream: as he states Red shrimp. “One bite and you are already in the Kinder world, or rather, more precisely it seems like you have the legendary little egg under your nose”. An ice cream with a fior di latte flavor that is not excessively sweet and with a coating that makes it crunchy and tasty.
3. Froneri Italy – Nuii Milk Chocolate and Italian Toasted Hazelnuts: a “crunch” ice cream, characterized by well-worked chocolate, in which “the coarse hazelnuts can be clearly distinguished even if the taste is a little covered by the cocoa notes”, as he says Red shrimp.
4. Algida – Magnum Mini Hazelnut Remix: Red shrimp he describes this stick like this: “Upon olfactory analysis, the dried fruit expresses itself with excessive toasting, while on the palate it discreetly intertwines with good ice cream”. The icing is not uniform: where it is double (white and black) it is too thick.
5. Ferrero – Rocher Triple Experience Caramel: The stick that reinterprets the famous praline in a “caramel” key stands out for the good quality of the hazelnut ice cream that characterizes it. To accompany it, the crunchy chocolate coating, the creamy caramel part and the ice cream inside. When bitten, the taste of the caramel “undercoating” tends to cover everything else.