A shopper claims to have discovered the 'cheapest ice cream in the UK' at an unlikely retailer: Ikea. The Swedish furniture giant, known for its flat-pack furniture and meatballs, is selling a soft-serve vanilla ice cream cone for just 95p, according to a post on the Facebook page 'Very British Problems', which has 1.3 million followers.
Bargain Discovery Amid Heatwave
With much of the UK recently enduring a record-breaking heatwave, with temperatures reaching 37.1C in some areas, many people have been seeking frozen treats to cool down. However, ice cream prices have risen, making it difficult to find a 99 that actually costs 99p. The shopper shared a photo of the advertised ice cream, writing: 'It's sunny so I've come for surely the cheapest 99 in Britain. Such a cheap 99 that it's a 95!' In the comments, they added: 'I'll probably not feel the benefit of the savings once I've spent £400 on cupboards.'
Debate Over the '99' Name
Ikea's soft serve ice cream is described on their website as a 'traditional soft ice based on milk and cream' with a classic vanilla flavour. However, the post sparked debate, with many arguing it cannot be called a 99 without a Cadbury Flake. '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 joked: 'It's 95p because there's no Flake. The Flake would take it up to the average UK price of £6.50.'
What Is a 99 Ice Cream?
In British culture, a 99 is a vanilla soft-serve ice cream cone with a Cadbury Flake bar pressed into the top. The Flake was originally made at Cadbury's factory in Birmingham, England, and designed to be cuboid-shaped to fit neatly into a wafer. By 1930, Cadbury's produced half-length Flake '99s' specifically for ice cream cones, sold loose in boxes. The early '99 Flake' was an ice cream sandwich: a Flake between two portions of ice cream, sandwiched between two wafer biscuits.
Origins of the Name
The origins of the '99' name remain mysterious. Some believe it dates back to 1922, when Stefano Arcari opened an ice cream parlour in Scotland at 99 Portobello High Street. He would snap a Flake in two before placing it into the ice cream, naming the treat after the shop's address. Others speculate it honours 'i Ragazzi del 99' (the Boys of '99), soldiers born in 1899 who were the last called up during the First World War. There are also those who believe the name derived from its former price of 99p, though this seems unlikely given the treat's early 1900s origins.
