Ultra-purified water, decorated… Food ice cubes, a booming market

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When the mercury rises, no drink is complete without ice cubes. "It feels good, it's refreshing," admits a consumer seated at a table with a glass on a terrace. These small cubes melt in our glasses, but also fuel a lucrative and growing market : up 4% per year until 2032. In the Paris suburbs, one company produces 50 tons of ice cubes per day.

"It's very simple, it's city water that goes through these softeners. Once it's filtered, this water goes through our machines to make the famous ice cubes," explains Mohamed Ghandour, founder of Ice Market. The price: one euro per kilo, excluding delivery costs. With the heatwave, demand is exploding. "This one is for a caterer in Montreuil. He's having a big reception today. He ordered 800 kilos of ice cubes. So, the remaining pallets are for restaurants, individuals, for any sporting event," Mohamed Ghandour shows us, in front of his stock of ice cubes. Samarcande Ast, Ice Market's sales assistant, directs the delivery drivers in real time. For three years, this same company has installed 150 distributors in the Île-de-France region to offer ice 24 hours a day.

Supermarkets also boast ice cubes. But surprise: many are imported. From Germany, at Auchan and Picard; from Belgium, at Leclerc; from Italy, at Monoprix. Because to meet demand, mass production is necessary. Today, the European leader in ice cream is Procubitos. This Spanish group has six factories, including one in Germany and one in Italy. This business fuels the craziest projects. In Greenland, a startup collects ice detached from icebergs to export it to Dubai in boxes selling for nearly 30 euros.

In an increasingly competitive sector, to stand out, Joseph Biolatto uses ultra-purified water. The result: translucent ice, cut first into large blocks, then into small cubes or perfectly shaped spheres. And the ultimate is engraved ice cubes for a major sports brand. Some even have inlaid decorations: "We take the tree, we'll add a little water, start the freezing process which will gradually rise to trap [the branches] in the ice cubes," explains Joseph Biolatto, president of The Nice Company.

Flowers, chili peppers, or even golden leaves... Small luxury cubes sold for 1 to 2 euros each. The buyers of these high-end ice cubes are cocktail bars. "These are ice cubes that will melt four to five times slower than an ice cube with air inclusions, like we have in our fridges at home. The goal is really for the customer to be able to have a cocktail that is not completely drowned after just a few minutes of tasting," explains Romain Robic, head bartender at Classique. In the dining room, consumers appreciate: "We come to have a universe, a decorum and suddenly, (...) we will remember it, that's what counts," confirms a customer. With the increase in heat waves, this market is not about to plunge.

Non-exhaustive list.