As summer officially arrives and the UK experiences record-breaking temperatures of up to 37.1°C in some areas, many Britons are turning to ice cream to cool down. However, rising prices have made finding affordable treats challenging. One shopper now claims to have discovered the “cheapest” ice cream in the UK at an unlikely location: Swedish furniture retailer Ikea.
Facebook Post Reveals 95p Ice Cream
Posting on the Facebook page “Very British Problems,” a user shared their find with 1.3 million followers. “It’s sunny so I’ve come for surely the cheapest 99 in Britain. Such a cheap 99 that it’s a 95!” they wrote, accompanied by a photo showing a 95p price tag for a vanilla soft-serve cone at Ikea. The user humorously added, “I’ll probably not feel the benefit of the savings once I’ve spent £400 on cupboards.”
According to Ikea’s website, their soft serve ice cream is described as a “traditional soft ice based on milk and cream” with a classic vanilla flavour. This bargain price contrasts sharply with the average cost of a 99 ice cream in the UK, which one commenter estimated at £6.50.
Debate Over the ‘99’ Definition
While the post celebrated the low price, commenters quickly pointed out that the cone lacked a Cadbury Flake, the essential ingredient for a traditional 99. “Not a 99 without a flake though!” one person wrote. Another explained, “Without a Flake it's just a Mr Whippy. You need that stick of crumbly chocolate goodness to make it a ‘99’.” A third user noted, “It’s 95p because there’s no Flake. The Flake would take it up to the average UK price of £6.50.”
Origins of the 99 Ice Cream
In British culture, a 99 is a vanilla soft-serve ice cream cone with a Cadbury Flake bar inserted. The Flake, originally produced at Cadbury’s factory in Birmingham, was designed as a cuboid to fit into a wafer. By 1930, Cadbury sold half-length Flake “99s” specifically for ice cream cones, marketed as 99 Flake and sold loose in boxes. Early versions were ice cream sandwiches with a Flake between two servings of ice cream and wafer biscuits.
The name’s origin remains debated. Some trace it to 1922, when Stefano Arcari opened an ice cream shop at 99 Portobello High Street in Scotland. He would break a Flake in half and place it in the ice cream, naming the treat after the shop’s address. Others believe it honours “i Ragazzi del 99” (the Boys of ’99), soldiers born in 1899 who enlisted in World War I. A popular but historically inaccurate theory suggests it cost 99p, which may have been true in the 1990s but not when the treat originated in the early 1900s.
Despite the debate, the shopper’s find highlights the rising cost of ice cream and the search for affordable alternatives. Whether or not it qualifies as a true 99, Ikea’s 95p cone offers a budget-friendly option for cooling down this summer.
