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Chinese ice cream brands have shaken off the label of low-end and unfashionable. Now, with new varieties and better prices, they are penetrating the domestic market.

Beijing's Old Summer Palace recently launched lotus-shaped ice creams, which became a hit both online and offline. In fact, this summer, bakeries, herbal tea companies, and even chewing gum producers have built their respective ice cream brands through cross-industry collaboration.

Besides cooperating with other industries, some ice cream companies have improved their products to grab a share of the market. Chicecream, a brand based in Shanghai, started to gain market favor in 2016 by enriching ice cream flavors and expanding sales channels. Now, a Chicecream ice cream is sold at a higher price than some foreign brands including Nestle, Wall's and Magnum.

Between June and July, Shanghai consumers purchased more than 310,000 ice creams. As quality and price continue to rise, it is hard for consumers to find ice cream priced below 3 yuan in Shanghai, said Lin Sheng, founder of Chicecream.

Some ice cream companies have launched stores online, as consumers buy more online than they do in person, where they tend to enjoy an ice cream on the spot.

With a more reliable cold chain network, ice creams sold online can be delivered to more places. Statistics from online market place Tmall indicated that consumers from Shandong, Hubei, Fujian, Sichuan, Hunan and Henan provinces bought double the volume of ice cream from online shops in June than they did in the same period last year.

In China, about 140 ice cream brands are active online this year, compared with 60 in 2018. Statistics showed that China's ice cream sales reached about 123.9 billion yuan in 2018, a considerable increase from 40.3 billion yuan the previous year.

Lin estimated that the ice cream industry would continue to grow, at least for the next five years.