Orange cream, or Creamsicle, was the flavor of the summer, according to a number of lifestyle and foodie publications. This nostalgic taste, which typically blends orange, vanilla, and cream, has actually been on the rise for the past several years; 2024 seemed to represent a high mark for new releases, including collaborative examples. But it definitely remains front and center in a variety of food and non-food products.
The flavor has shown up over the decades in popular iterations including Orange Julius shakes, Flintstones Cool Cream Push-Up Pops, Orange Dole Whip, and of course, Popsicle’s Creamsicle ice cream treats. But during the recent nostalgic burst, a wide swath of companies have added orange cream, under a variety of names, to their offerings, typically as limited-time iniatives.
A few of many, many examples have included Wendy’s Orange Dreamsicle Frosty; Coca-Cola’s Orange Cream variety of its flagship soft drink; Vita Coco’s Orange & Cream coconut water; Carvel’s Orange Dreamy Creamy ice cream; Coffee Mate’s Orange Cream Pop Flavored Duo Creamer; Starbucks’ Orange Cream cake pop; M&Ms’ Orange Vanilla Creme candies; Liquid I.V.’s Orange Vanilla Dream sports drink; Yoplait’s Orange Crème yogurt cups; Dunkin’s Orange ’n’ Vanilla donut; Ghost’s Orange Cream whey protein powder; and Blue Moon’s Cara Cara Orange Vanilla vinegar.
The trend has extended to non-food products as well, such as Sally Beauty’s ASAP Orange Cream Soda gel nail polish, to name just one.
Of course, collaborations involving both food-based and non-food-based properties and products have also been part of the mix, capitalizing on the flavor profile and/or color palette associated with the treat:
- In August of this year, Homesick paired with Olipop, a prebiotic carbonated beverage brand, to create a line of scented candles inspired by the latter’s nostalgic flavors. Products included a single-wick, natural soy candle in Olipop Orange Cream, along with a set of four mini-candles tied to other Olipop varieties including Cream Soda, Classic Root Beer, Classic Grape, and Strawberry Vanilla.
- Florida-based beach and leisurewear brand Duvin Design paired with the Tampa Bay Buccaneers in October 2024 for a limited-edition apparel collection capitalizing on the trend and the team’s Creamsicle-like orange and white color palette. The t-shirts, hats, crew-neck fleece sweatshirt, rugby polo, work jacket, and short-sleeve button-up shirt were in the Buccaneers’ classic colors and featured a retro logo of the team’s pirate mascot, Bucco Bruce. A second collection is available for the start of the NFL season this year.
- Matcha café chain Matcha Mogul Junbi and Mercis, represented by The Joester-Loria Group in North America, produced a Miffy series of four Orange Creamsicle specialty drinks for U.S. customers over a two-month period from late September through December 2024. The limited flavors—Miffy’s Orange Creamsicle Matcha Latte, Melanie’s Orange Creamsicle Coffee Latte, Snuffy’s Orange Creamsicle, and Boris’ Blended Orange Creamsicle—were accompanied by drink sleeves featuring the characters, one for each offering, and for-purchase Miffy items including a tumbler and matcha tins. Fans could collect all four drink sleeves and trade them in for one of two exclusive Miffy keychains.
- C4 Energy acquired a license for Creamsicle, announced in June 2024, to create an energy drink available exclusively at 7-Eleven stores across the country. The pairing was supported by a summer-long marketing program featuring Ludacris. Creamsicle, a brand of Popsicle that launched in 1937, has long been part of Unilever’s Good Humor division. It is now overseen by the Magnum Ice Cream Company, which is in the midst of being spun off from Unilever into a separate entity that will oversee all of Unilever’s current ice cream brands.
- East Coast bagel chain PopUp Bagels partnered with Poppi, another prebiotic soda pop brand, in June 2024 for a special-edition, flavored cream cheese tied to Poppi’s Orange Cream offering. It contained actual Poppi Orange Cream Soda, along with orange-zest and mandarin orange concentrates and pure vanilla extract.
- New York City-headquartered bakery chain Milk Bar paired with orange juice brand Tropicana for Orange Squeeze soft-serve ice cream combining the flavors of freshly sqeezed orange juice—using juice supplied by Tropicana—and vanilla, served at Milk Bar locations across the U.S. for a limited time starting in June 2024. Bottles of Tropicana Pure Premium Original were also sold in the bakeries during the promotion.
- Southern Tier Brewing teamed with Perry’s Ice Cream for an Orange Twist Imperial Ale that included notes of orange sherbet, vanilla ice cream, and milk sugar, in March 2024. The brew was available at Southern Tier’s five taprooms and sold at retailers across the company’s distribution region, which includes New York, Pennsylvania, and Ohio.
- Alcoholic ice cream brand Hardscoop and Vizzy Hard Seltzer collaborated back in August 2023 for a Hardscoop Orange Cream Pop made with Vizzy’s Orange Cream Pop Hard Seltzer, which had launched earlier that summer. Both the beverage and the ice cream were limited editions.
While the presence of orange cream in pop culture and consumer product offerings is likely to fall off at some point from its current ubiquity, the flavor will probably continue making regular summer appearances for the foreseeable future. In fact, some observers have started referring to orange cream as “the pumpkin spice of summer,” which seems like an apt description.
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