The sugar tax could help the ice cream sector to thrive as shoppers will realise that the category isn’t overloaded with calories.

Noel Clarke, vice president of brand building for refreshments & out-of-home sales at Unilever Ice Cream, told Retail Express that there was a stigma around ice cream that consumers can’t eat much of it, but the reality was a lot of products are formulated and sized to be permissive.

“We have made some pretty big moves already – all our kids’ products have under 110 calories and we’ve gone past that with no added fats or sugar,” he said.

“In many ways, the sugar tax could be a positive. We’ll keep progressing on sugar and communicating healthier choices, and if people have confidence in what they’re eating they’ll eat it.”