Review: 10 Best Supermarket Ice Cream Brands in Kenya

These are the esteemed members of the “Grocery Store Ice Cream ” They’re the superheroes of frozen treats, ready to rescue you from any ice cream emergency you may encounter in the supermarket aisle.

French Vanilla does it for me, with a touch of mint, or just mint chocolate when I wanna feel like a degenerate

Getting add-ins with your ice cream at restaurants will be more expensive than these packed ready-to-go, not to mention they offer convenience and availability at all times

Table of Contents

A. PREMIUM ICE CREAMS

Presented here are real ice creams that are actually ice cream, and not substances claiming to be

These premium treats are less airy and thus dense. Don’t underestimate the serving size, you might get full before eating them all.

With such greatness comes a slap on your back with hefty price tags, but everything is kinda worth it once you dig in.

Featured in this category:

Ben & Jerry, Coldstone, Häagen Dazs, London Dairy, Java and Creambell

1. Ben & Jerry’s

Ben & Jerry's Ice Cream — Ben & Jerry’s Ice Cream

Price: KSh 1,195 for 465ml tub

KSh 330 for 100ml tub

Flavors: Cookie Dough, Caramel Chew Chew, Strawberry Cheesecake, Chunky Monkey, Chocolate-Fudge-Brownie and Netflix & Chill’d

Available at Carrefour Supermarkets

Available at Artcaffē Market

This is an American brand founded in 1978 in Vermont.

Ben and Jerry’s ice cream is without doubt pricey, as they use real ingredients and not flavors, and everything is sustainably sourced.

They have non-dairy and vegan options as well that taste incredibly good! Ben & Jerry’s is so good and if you get hooked on that, considering the prices you are going to be homeless in just two months.

I only buy these when there is a sale or clearance; when I can get them for cheap

2. Coldstone

Prices: KSh 290 for 150ml tub

KSh 750 for 500ml tub

Flavors: Strawberry, Cookie Dough, Cake Batter and Chocolate

Available at Greenspoon

Available at Carrefour

Known for its ice cream that is unbelievably expensive, Coldstone is an American brand from Arizona since 1988.

Coldstone ice cream is very thick and silky and I feel like you get your money’s worth eventually. This has to do with cream content which is over 14% higher than what is recommended for ice cream.

They have outlets in Nairobi but sometimes if you can’t visit the store for some reason, there are packed options from the supermarket freezer shelf. I have never tried the Supermarket version but I imagine it won’t be as good as the freshly made one in the store. Plus I’m sure no toppings for you, or mix-ins just plain boring mono flavor.

3. Häagen Dazs

Prices: KSh 1,250 for a 460ml tub

KSh 375 for a 100ml tub

Available at Carrefour Supermarkets

Häagen Dazs is an American ice cream brand from The Bronx NYC, and has been making ice cream since 1960. They also make other treats but let us stick to the ice cream as our subject.

I just wanna say their Vanilla bean ice cream is so magnificent, plain vanilla is good enough but not to the levels of vanilla bean. Vanilla bean is the best compared to regular vanilla as it is more flavorful, punchy, and creamier ( remember the regular vanilla is already creamy)

Chocolate Chip and Strawberry Cheesecake are other flavors you should try.

Häagen Dazs ice creams are just rich and flavorful, not overly sweetened just a perfect balance between rich, creamy, thick, and sweet.

4. London Dairy

Prices: KSh 895 for 500ml tub,

KSh 300 for 125ml tub,

KSh 295 for 120ml cone,

KSh 330 for the 100ml stick.

Available at Carrefour Supermarkets

Available at Naivas Supermarkets

Flavors: Double Chocolate, Tiramisu, Vanilla, Frozen Yoghurt(Froyo), Cookies & Cream, Caramel Crunch, Double Chocolate, Chocolate & Hazelnut

London Dairy is advertised as a low-calorie ice cream and they really mean it. If you are constantly monitoring your calorie intake and want an ice cream that got your back, can’t go wrong with London Dairy. Just 345 calories from a 473ml tub, which is impressive

Ironically, London Dairy is not even from London or anywhere in The UK, Whyyyyy would they do that? My life has been a lie. It is actually a UAE brand. Or as some of you call it, Dubai. Come on…Dubai is just a city.

Unfortunately, it doesn’t taste that rich or creamy, it is good enough, however. It is less sweet than the American brands; Häagen Dazs, Coldstone, and Ben & Jerry and that is why I like it. They also have ice cream sticks for subsequent tub flavors.

5. Java House

Price: KSh 500 for 350g tub

KSh 250 for 150g tub

Flavors: Chocolate, Strawberry, Vanilla, and Salted Caramel

Available at Carrefour Supermarkets

Java House doesn’t imply there is the existence of Python House. Commonly referred to as Java, this is a chain of coffee shops that operate within Nairobi and other major cities.

Java offers ice cream on their menu that has almost everything you will need, but that is in the restaurant. They also process and pack some goodies for the supermarket shelves and freezers. These include; ice cream and pastries. Since the subject is ice cream let’s get pastries out of the way first

They have cookies mostly, in two versions; a red package and a yellow packet. Yellow has macadamia nuts while the red is plain. Their cookies are just divine, not as good as Subway ones, but good enough. A packet of 12 will cost around KSh 180.

Now to the ice creams, they are okay, not mind-blowing good like the first 4 but just decent enough to nod that this is indeed ice cream. Plus these are the most affordable for the same tub sizes, so maybe this will be the best value if that is your buying point.

The only buzzkill about Java House ice creams is; they have the common yawn-inducing boring flavors and nothing exciting to try out.

I may be speaking for myself but I love the thrill of trying something new and crazy like, sushi & waffles flavored ice cream. I’m just saying

B. BUDGET ICE CREAMS

These are more of ”ice cream” rather than ice cream. They may not be as silky or richer as the 5 discussed above, but they are good enough to satisfy those cravings and for cheap

For KSh 900 you could have a premium 500ml tub or a 4L ice cream from this category, the illusion of free choice. Quality or quantity?

Ice creams in this category are just basic so don’t have those high expectations here, they are less creamy, more airy, less dense and just melt in seconds.

What is the difference between premium and budget ice cream?

Cheap ice creams use fewer whole ingredients, cheaper processing, and use artificial flavoring and enhancers to make the ice cream taste good but for cheap, while the premium ones use whole ingredients and real flavors in some cases.

6. Creambell

I would say this is the best affordable ice cream. Quality-wise, it is acceptable for the price, not too fancy not too basic, and generally superior over all other brands in this category.

7. Dairyland

Dairyland ice creams have always been a disappointment for me;

Melts like crazy, giving me a meltdown. Yes a power outage for long means everything starts thawing and melting in the freezer, but Dairyland is always notorious here, not one flavor..several of them they all melt away like its company policy.

Texture and flavor aspects are just mid, not too exciting or terrible, it is just there. In summary, it doesn’t make any bold statement.

The only good thing Dairyland seems to have going on is the several flavor varieties they have, they reign supreme here for some reason. Every time I check there is this new flavor I have never heard of.

I personally will pick Creambell over this anyway,

To slice them some slack- their yoghurts are so good I would recommend…they are on the same level as Bio Yoghurts

8. Lyons Maid

Lyon's Maid Ice Cream — Lyon’s Maid Ice Cream

You’ve heard of Minute Maid before, now get ready for…..(drum roll)… Lyons Maid!

It’s been a while since I tried Lyons Maid, flavors are okay but the ice creams are so airy almost hollow. Say you scooping a spoonful, there is more air than ice cream in there. However, they are mostly on sale and Buy 1 get 1 so I guess they are making up for the deficiency somewhere.

9. Ooh

I wouldn’t take this ice cream brand seriously, their name is literally Ooh. I can’t believe someone in a meeting suggested that name and the entire corporate nodded.

Jokes aside Ooh, ( snickering intensifies). Okay, okay, Ooh! (this very ice cream) is decent enough. Despite the weird name, it is just on par with other Brands. It is not like a premium, it caters to budget-conscious consumers. It is good enough.

10. Mio

Mio is a sub-brand of Dairyland, this is like a watered-down version of it. Doesn’t offer much just strawberry and vanilla flavors fused together. But for its extremely low price, I wouldn’t complain even if I wanted to (doesn’t mean I want to)

Cheers and bye for now!